Right Person, Right Place, Right Time

Peter Hirsch is the right person, in the right place, at the right time to lead a groundbreaking research project at Dilworth Center.

“I’ve always tried to leverage my personal reinventions and experiences to help people change their lives. Through this project, I am compelled to help counselors and patients do that, now and going forward.”

Dilworth Center has a 30-year heritage of treating substance use disorders in the Charlotte, NC region. It is the first outpatient treatment center in the country to implement the National Association of Addiction Treatment Provider’s (NAATP) Outcomes Measurement Program. This program is an innovative approach to finding ways of improving long-term recovery success for patients. Dilworth Center’s high operations standard required a working knowledge of best research practices as well as insight into the field of addictions treatment.

Peter Hirsch came to Dilworth Center as an intern, part of his program at Central Piedmont Community College for substance abuse counseling. He now holds a CADC-I certification. His prior experiences involved decades in a variety of relevant fields. With a BS in communications from Syracuse University, Hirsch went on to management, marketing and programming roles in radio, television, print and online formats. This included implementation and analysis functions for various social research projects. He arrived in Charlotte to spend over 6 years in print and digital advertising at the Charlotte Observer.

But in this changing world, Hirsch understood the assets of his professional experiences and personal evolution. He saw the severe ongoing community problem of substance abuse and the value of life-changing recovery. His interest in the human mind and ability to connect with a wide variety of people suggested his new career path. “With my sociological background, research experience and internship at Dilworth Center, managing the Outcomes Measurement Program was simply a good fit”, Hirsch said.

Hirsch worked with the project partners to adapt the NAATP Program toolkit for an outpatient setting. He also identified additional data categories relevant to long range treatment success. And when the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the Center’s change to a 100% telehealth approach, Hirsch helped introduce new methodology to analyze the influence of public health restrictions on the treatment and recovery of Dilworth patients. “Peter has truly been an asset to this new program and our team as a whole.” -Tammy Hanson, COO The Outcomes Measurement Program implementation at Dilworth Center was funded in part by a grant from the Mecklenburg County ABC Board.