Milestones Ranch Malibu, in Latigo Canyon, relocates staff and patients for fourth time in its 22 years
“Our guiding principle is to take an action that is the most right thing to do for our clients,” said Denise Klein, MSW, CEO and co-owner of Milestones Ranch Malibu, a dual diagnosis rehabilitation treatment center in Latigo Canyon that leases premises from Calamigos Ranch. “Whether and when to relocate our treatment center’s services and our clients and staff due to a wildfire is a slippery slope analysis but we make sure to do the most correct thing.
“Our patients already have enough trauma, so it’s important to leave our location during the day if we have to move due to a wildfire. Accordingly, we moved our patients, staff and services on Dec. 10 in the late afternoon because of the Franklin Fire.”
Klein explained that she could not be specific regarding the hotel north of Latigo that her company used to provide clients and staff with temporary accommodations and treatment services.
“The hotel we used kindly provided a complimentary conference room for us to use,” she said. “Milestones has leased from Calamigos ranch for 22 years and we have had to relocate clients and staff three times before this fire.”
For Klein, the expensive decision to provide staff and clients with accommodations off-site centers on a determination regarding doing what is best for clients and their families and also for Milestones staff.
“Imagine a patient or a staff person who is trying to focus on participating in treatment sessions while fire or smoke surrounds them, and imagine the patients’ families dealing with that happening,” she postulated. “That situation would be way too stressful, so we always act preemptively and I know that our staff, clients and their families appreciate our doing so very much.”
Klein also commented regarding the responsiveness of Southern California Edison in the ongoing Franklin Fire.
“Edison has been very proactive during this fire,” She said, which “has really helped us to deal with the situation.”
Savannah Ganje, Milestones’ director of admissions and clinical outreach coordinator, chimed in and discussed details regarding what it takes to relocate staff and clients who are receiving addiction rehabilitation treatment.
“Our staff must go to the new location before the clients arrive and it is very important that we ensure there are no mini-bars or access to alcohol or drugs,” Ganje said. “We need to ensure that our staff has a dedicated room to conduct operations in addition to providing the clients with appropriate accommodations.”
Health before wealth
It’s essential, Ganje noted, “to ensure that the relocation process is peaceful for clients and that they can continue their structured schedules of group and session treatments.”
Concurring, Klein noted that “established science documents that the goal during a person’s first year of addiction treatment is to ensure that he, ‘keeps the stress levels as low as possible.'” She explained that doing so is critical because, “When someone who is in early addiction treatment becomes stressed it can increase his possibly relapsing — scientific studies have documented that stress can trigger patients’ cravings for addictive substances.”
Addressing the cumulative effect that repeated fires have on Milestones’ staff and any local clients who have experienced wildfires, Klein stated, “All of us in Malibu still have experiences with fires in our subconscious after Woolsey and other fires — our clients, our staff persons and their families possibly being exposed to fire-related stress is definitely a strong factor that we weigh when determining when Milestone’s clients, staff and treatment services should be relocated.”
Noting that the company’s mantra is, “health over wealth,” Klein added, “We take very seriously our fiduciary duty to serve the best interests of our patients and that consideration is paramount to any costs involved in relocating them during a fire.”
Milestones relocated seven patients and three staff members, a staff to patient ratio that is standard for the rehabilitation center, Ganje noted, adding that, “We made sure to add some sober-fun activities for the clients — we took them holiday shopping for their families.”