Dr. Ronald Bibb Jr., a board-certified addiction medicine physician, is medical director of Lexington-based Compass Addiction Services.
Addiction is a chronic, deep-seated issue that reaches all aspects of society. Treatment options like Lexington-based Compass Addiction Services are a burgeoning and necessary business and “one can probably never have too many of facilities like the one we provide,” said Medical Director Dr. Ronald Bibb Jr., “but only when it’s run appropriately.”
D. Blake Ferguson
Compass Addiction Services is one of two businesses under the umbrella company of Compass Health of Kentucky, owned by D. Blake Ferguson, an auctioneer and a licensed real estate agent with Bluegrass Sotheby’s International Realty. Ferguson met Bibb in early 2020 and within five weeks had launched the new company and opened the doors of Compass Addiction Services.
“Oddly enough, I sold the building at auction to the current owners in the winter of 2017,” Ferguson said of the building on Harrodsburg Road, formerly a dermatology office just south of Waller Avenue. “We lease the building but did a major remodel in February 2020 to accommodate our needs.”
Bibb is a board-certified addiction medicine physician. “His knowledge and experience drive the success of our patients through his individualized treatment plan,” Ferguson said.
The team also includes addiction counselor Melissa Barrett-Thomas, who oversees mental health aspects of treatment, as well as case manager Jade Kong, who helps patients with job placement, housing and other needs.
Patients at Compass Addiction Services are educated in three areas: about the underlying disease, state or condition; about the medication(s) that will be involved in their treatment course; and strategies for implementing healthy behavior patterns.
“I would qualify success according to the individual’s goals and how far removed from the maladaptive thinking and behavior patterns related to environmental stressors they can find themselves in,” Bibb said.
Problematic use disorders “should be viewed not as a defect in character but rather an ongoing disease state that should be treated like any other medical ailment, with dignity for the patient maintained at all costs and at all levels,” Bibb said. “Patient advocacy is critical while being mindful so as not to enable or coddle them.”
Last October, Compass Health of Kentucky opened a second business, Compass Behavioral Health, on Monarch Street in the Beaumont neighborhood. “We wanted to make sure each entity has its own identity, with a parent company that encompasses everything,” Ferguson said. “We do share patients between both offices, as we look to treat all aspects of addiction and mental health.”
Deborah Goad
At Compass Behavioral Health, counselors treat a variety of conditions, including ADD-ADHD, anger management, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, grief, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress and stress management. Deborah Goad is the counseling director and is responsible for the treatment plans for individuals, families and group therapy, as well as the overall well-being of all patients.
“Our facility is important for Lexington, because everyone is prone to stress and life’s unexpected changes. Everyone has experienced it at some point in their lives and you can imagine how much anxiety and depression have increased lately,” she said. “We are giving people an opportunity to discuss whatever is going on in their life that is stressful or hurtful and are giving them helpful ways and coping mechanisms to deal with issues in a mentally healthy way.”
Compass Behavioral Health accommodates in-person and telehealth appointments, according to each patient’s preference.
“Everyone has their own individual story. Their story and their feelings matter.” —Deborah Goad
“Counseling is useful for people even when they are not in crisis,” Goad said. “Everyone has their own individual story. Their story and their feelings matter.”
As he approaches the first anniversary of Compass Health of Kentucky, Ferguson is proud of the way its seven sta. members are working together for overall patient health and advocacy.
“My job is to make their lives as easy as possible and provide them the tools to do what they do best,” he said.