A Legacy of Quality and Service in Indiana
1978
In 1978 the New Avenues Employee Assistance Program was established in Northern Indiana by Dot Feldman, LCSW, MBA, Kay Grask, LCSW and Tony Berardi, Ph.D. as part of the Family Learning Center, a private behavioral health counseling agency. Their first client company was St. Joseph Valley Bank, a client who stayed with New Avenues for 20 years through several mergers. Over this 20-year period, the New Avenues EAP grew and diversified to meet the changing behavioral health and employer challenges, offering employee assistance programs to northern Indiana employers in five offices throughout the region. As employers and managed care organizations requested more service coverage for multiple locations around the country, New Avenues, no longer a part of Family Learning Center, evolved to a network model maintaining the administrative and case management functions within its corporate structure. Currently New Avenues contracts with more than 400 professionals in 15 states to deliver comprehensive behavioral health services.
1994
In 1994 Ancilla Health Care saw the growing demand for managed care capability in both medical and behavioral health networks. They established the Midwest Behavioral Health Network (MBHN) in 1995 and began contracting with managed care organizations for the delivery of behavioral health services to complement existing medical services in Indiana through the Ancilla Health System hospital and physician organizations.
1997
In 1997 NAMB, LLC was created, a joint venture between Ancilla Systems, Inc. and the owners of New Avenues, bringing together the resources and expertise of delivering employee assistance, behavioral health, and organizational human relations solutions for companies in the Midwest.
1999
In 1999 Ancilla Systems, Inc. examined its corporate priorities and decided to begin a withdrawal from managed care contracting. At the same time the original owners and staff of New Avenues were enthusiastic about the growing needs for managed behavioral health programs. With cordial and amicable parting, the joint venture was disbanded. A new company, NAMB, INC, was created and still is owned and managed by the original professionals who founded New Avenues in 1978. They remain committed and innovative in helping people and companies find dynamic solutions for optimizing productivity and well-being. The core values still influence our culture and business.
2001
In 2001 the organization went through another evolution to support anticipated growth. In September 2001, operations were relocated to offices in downtown South Bend in the City Center building. The Board of Directors also determined that this would be the ideal time to consolidate all programs under the existing, strong New Avenues identity. The Midwest Behavioral Health Network (MBHN) name was retained as the product name for the Network and business in behavioral health benefit administration. In August 2001 the legal name of the company was changed to New Avenues, Incorporated doing business as New Avenues Employee Assistance Program and the Midwest Behavioral Health Network.
New Avenues focused significant resources on its marketing and communications during 2001. A professionally-produced video was made available to orient companies and employees to the employee assistance program. New Avenues also introduced new communication pieces to familiarize prospective clients and employees covered by the employee assistance program. Customized posters and payroll stuffers supporting the employee assistance program were commissioned, along with a major revamping of our web site.We converted the Midwest Behavioral Health Network from a closed panel principally used in the administration of managed care plans to a preferred provider panel available to self-insured plans.
Our Company in Year 2008
New Avenues, Inc. is a privately held company with administrative and clinical case management offices in South Bend, Indiana and a network of more than 2000 providers in 22 states offering a full range of behavioral health services. New Avenues specializes in offering our corporate clients employee assistance programs, behavioral health benefit administration programs, utilization review in behavioral health, critical incident stress debriefing, training, worklife, and consultation. New Avenues' Midwest Behavioral Health Network is well known in the region for its MBHN provider network and administrative capacity for managing behavioral health programs for HMOs, PPOs, and large selfinsured employers. The company selectively employs only professionals and staff with experience, credentials, and expertise for working with the public in the field of behavioral health. Due to numerous requests from our client companies, New Avenues also offers a wide range of training, worklife and educational programs and is developing plans for expansion of this new area.
We are excited about the future, our new location, and our expanding opportunities to serve health plans, employers, and members with a wide variety of behavioral health programs.