"The first step is getting clean." - Lisa Baron, Local 1189

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

The January graduation ceremony of the Chemical Dependency Program at Coney Island Hospital felt like a combination revival meeting, talent show and family reunion.

The 19 graduates from the day program sat in the first row at the Gospel Assembly Church as they listened to several speakers and watched performances by staff and patients.

Director Jaime Rosario began by singing the praises of the program's creator, Dr. Lisa Baron, the Chief Psychologist and a member of Local 1189. "Lisa is a very persuasive fundraiser," said Mr. Rosario, who admitted he had paid three dollars for a bagel during one of her many drives.

Dr. Baron has worked at the Brooklyn hospital for 10 years and has coordinated the Chemical Dependency Program for the last three. Besides her legendary fundraising skills, she has also modified the traditional treatment approach by including social and recreational activities.

"I think it's important that the patients don't spend so much time thinking about their addiction," she explained. "A lot of them live alone, and the trips let them establish relationships with people besides their counselors." In keeping with her treatment philosophy, Dr. Baron has organized outings to the Bronx Zoo, Knicks basketball games at Madison Square Garden and even Broadway plays.

Two years ago, Dr. Baron put together a softball team made up of day-program patients. After they beat a hospital staff team, her Coney Island Tornadoes joined a league and competed against other hospitals. One of Dr. Baron's many fundraisers paid for the team's uniforms and hats, and the Tornadoes went undefeated.

"Working with Lisa has been a great experience," said Dr. Theresa Manger, a Senior Psychologist and also a member of Local 1189. "When it comes to sharing her knowledge, she's very generous, not only with me but with other people as well."

Dr. Lisa Baron celebrates with grads and staff of drug treatment program.

Dr. Baron credits Vocational-Educational Coordinating Manager Debbie Rubowitz, Certified Social Workers Delsa Fauconier and Erica Greenbaum, both members of Local 768, and Arlene Lippel, an Addiction Counselor in SSEU Local 371, for helping to make the program a success.

After speeches by several graduates, who thanked Dr. Baron and her staff, she jumped on stage and proudly introduced her latest triumph, a rock band made up of members of the graduating class. Aurora Concepts, a treatment program in Flushing, Queens, has invited the band to perform at their next fundraising event in April.

"We try to offer our patients a full program," said Dr. Baron. That includes high school equivalency and computer classes and treatment for the patients who not only are chemically dependent but also suffer from mental illness. "But the most important first step," she said, "is getting clean."