By Alexander Germanis
When a seed is planted, it is difficult to realize the grand potential contained within such a small vessel. Only after time and nourishment does the seed sprout, grow, and branch out into something that can fulfill not one but multiple purposes.
In 1973, when Chestnut Health Systems™ was first established on Chestnut Street in Bloomington, it started out serving as a substance use treatment provider. Later incorporating mental health treatment as part of its mission, it has since been recognized as a leader in those areas.
However, like the tree after which it is named, Chestnut has continued to grow, strengthen, and expand its purpose with the passing years. While Chestnut continues to provide services in mental health and substance use disorders, they have since become a provider across the entire spectrum of human health.
Primary Care
The more Chestnut grows, the more its influence can be felt by those it serves. This influence is felt by those who serve, as well. For licensed clinical professional counselor and Chestnut’s Chief Clinical Officer Matt Mollenhauer, Chestnut influenced him to stay in the Bloomington-Normal area.
Attending Illinois State University for his graduate work in clinical psychology, Matt initially planned on leaving the area once earning his post-graduate degree. “Fate,” as he puts it, had something else in mind. “The intent was to stay for a year or two and that has turned into a 34-plus year career at Chestnut,” he shares. “I think the initial attraction was the role as a clinician on our substance use treatment unit. After a while the attraction of Chestnut was about its depth of programs and the opportunities those programs create.”
The depth of programs extends to what some might consider to be the most basic level of healthcare but something for which Chestnut is not typically associated: primary care. “I think a lot of folks in the community don’t know Chestnut can be their doctor’s office,” Matt explains. “It’s important to highlight that we have this suite of services for children through adults and can be an individual’s or family’s medical home.”
A family medicine residency through a partnership with OSF St. Joseph allows Chestnut to have a greater number of physicians on hand in addition to their already staffed doctors and advanced practice nurses. This tireless healthcare staff is able to treat and assist with the most common ailments of colds, flus, and other infections to health concerns like high blood pressure and diabetes.
Also under their primary care canopy are services like immunizations; sports, work, and school physicals; women’s health — including obstetrics, family planning, and gynecological health; weight management; and same-day sick visits.
Chestnut can also be your healthcare home for disease management and injury treatment. Heart disease, high cholesterol, thyroid disease, infections, sprains, strains, and allergies can all be treated by Chestnut’s professional staff. There is also no need to travel elsewhere to have labs done or to access your prescriptions, as Chestnut houses both a laboratory and pharmacy at their Chestnut Street location in Bloomington.
Integrated Care
Recognizing that physical health is but only one aspect of a person’s overall health leads Chestnut to focus on an integrated care approach. As Matt says, “Integrated care is about being able to address both a person’s physical health and emotional health needs. But asking for help is hard, so integrated care for us is really about making the process of getting support easy. We are one agency able to support an individual through most of their needs.”
One such need is dental health, which was added to Chestnut’s canopy of integrated health in 2024. For cleanings, check-ups, x-rays, fluoride treatments, sealants, fillings, and tooth removal, Chestnut can be your dental health home.
Of course, Chestnut began as a behavioral health institution more than 50 years ago, with a focus on substance use treatment. “Our suite of behavioral health services ranging from counseling through psychiatric services remains core to what we do,” Matt assures. “We can serve all of the needs being brought forward.”
Looking forward is also something which Chestnut does, as evident in their Lighthouse Institute initiative. Established in 1986, Lighthouse Institute is the research division of Chestnut. Now it staffs more than 100 people, who conduct investigator-initiated health services and implementation research that focus on substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery as well as program evaluation for community partners. Lighthouse has multiple training centers for evidence-based practices delivered in clinical practice agencies across the US, the Canadian Provinces, and internationally.
Helping someone work through behavioral health problems is a mission that should never truly end, which is why recovery management check-ups are important and are the focus of one of the many research studies currently under the Lighthouse umbrella. “Recovery management check-ups are an evidence-based practice approach to remaining in contact with individuals throughout and after their recovery journey,” Matt explains. “We are working now to study how these check-ups can be applied to other areas like primary care. I’m excited to see where this goes.”
Helping More People to Live Fully
“It goes without saying that we are quite proud of our quality of care,” Matt states. “But in addition, we are very proud of our access availability and our supportive services. We have walk-in access for all of our services. Our case management and community health worker teams can support individuals as they navigate the healthcare system, deal with their barriers to care, and build on the trust they have with Chestnut as their provider.”
A major barrier for many, in regard to healthcare, is affordable care. While Chestnut works with all major insurance providers, insurance can be too expensive to purchase for some and too expensive to actually use for others. Therefore, Chestnut works with Medicaid, and they charge on a sliding fee scale for those who are self-pay, are uninsured, or underinsured.
“It’s part of why I have stayed working for the agency so long,” Matt says. “I think we put client/patient services first; I feel staff truly embrace our Mission of Improving Lives Through Excellence in Service.”
Excellence in Action
One individual whose life saw marked improvement through the service Chestnut provides is Larry Simpson, who vividly remembers his first visit to Chestnut Family Health Center in November of 2019. Two and-a-half hours away from his home in Chicago, he was looking to build a new life after years of struggle. “I was scared,” he admits.
Quickly put at ease by the friendly staff, Larry has since made Chestnut his medical home. He sees a primary doctor, counselor, and psychiatrist, and also attends Sunday morning Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at Chestnut’s location on Martin Luther King Drive in Bloomington.
A case manager helps connect him to community resources and a driver often transports him to his appointments. “Debbie is awesome,” Larry says of driver Deborah Scarbrough. “She has been with me since day one.”
An entire team is behind Larry and his quest to wellness. “They’re always there for me. Even the pharmacist said she wanted me to apply for a job here to be a counselor,” Larry shares, adding how significant it is to him that, unlike with the other health care providers he had previously sought out, with Chestnut he has decided to stay.
Growing Leaves
Chestnut’s four-leafed symbol should serve as a reminder of how much they have branched out in the healthcare world since the company’s inception. Their four-leafed mission of applied behavioral research, training, and publications; mental health treatment and housing for persons with mental illness; primary care treatment and preventative services; and substance use treatment and prevention are still just the core of services they seek to provide.
Since it was first accredited by the Joint Commission in the 1975, Chestnut has grown into not only a tree, but a veritable forest of healthcare. With locations in Illinois and Missouri, it will continue to grow larger and stronger to better provide a brighter, healthier future for the varied populations in their care.
Chestnut Health Systems™ is a nonprofit health and human services organization providing whole-person care for individuals, families, and communities. We integrate substance use and mental health treatment with primary care, dental services, and wraparound supports such as case management, recovery support, and family services. While we serve anyone who seeks care, our primary focus is supporting individuals and families who rely on public assistance. Through our Lighthouse Institute, we advance behavioral health research to strengthen evidence-based practices and improve outcomes nationwide.
Find out how our whole person approach can help you or someone you know live fully—please call 888.924.3786 or visit chestnut.org to get started. Even if you don’t need care, you can help bring hope and healing to others—learn how at chestnut.org/giving.
