Valley HealthCare System

About Valley HealthCare System

Valley HealthCare System is a community behavioral health center serving Preston County, including Kingwood, along with Marion, Monongalia, and Taylor counties in north central West Virginia. Founded in 1969 as one of the state’s first community behavioral health centers, they care for people with substance use disorders, mental illness, and intellectual or developmental disabilities, and they frame addiction as a medical condition rather than a personal failing. Their substance use services include a 24/7 crisis line and mobile crisis team, medically monitored withdrawal in a Crisis Residential Unit, residential treatment for men through the ACT Unit and for women through New Beginnings, outpatient treatment, medication-assisted treatment, and peer recovery support. They also offer primary care, so physical health concerns like diabetes or high blood pressure can be managed alongside recovery.

Withdrawal management is overseen by a physician and usually lasts three to seven days, with round-the-clock supervision, gradually tapered medication for symptoms, and group sessions focused on coping skills. Before admission to the crisis unit, clients need a medical clearance exam at a nearby emergency room. In the men’s ACT Unit, clients work with staff on a jointly developed treatment plan and use individual and group counseling to examine triggers, the effects of substance use on loved ones, and ways to handle anger without drugs or violence, with medication available for cravings. Stays range from a few days to several months, with extended stays of up to six months, and discharge planning connects clients with a case manager, local community agencies, and peer mentors who have lived through recovery themselves.