Company Report: NHS Human Services
NHS Human Services NHS Human Services, CEO M. Joseph Rocks tells the tale of how this Pennsylvania mental health provider recovered from near ruin to emerge as a national model for compliance

Considering NHS Human Services' reputation within the industry today, it's easy to envision M. Joseph Rocks shaking his head in disbelief while describing the tumult confronting him when he took over as company CEO nearly a decade ago.

Rocks - who served a combined four terms in the Pennsylvania State Senate and House of Representatives - sat on the NHS Board of Directors when the company was experiencing staggering growth from a single community-based mental health center worth $300,000 to an entity with multiple locations and annual revenue exceeding $100 million.
"I started inquiring about their financials. There were difficulties in getting audits done. Then there was a bank foreclosure on lines of credit. By the late 1990s the wheels had blown off and there was a federal indictment pending for Medicare fraud," Rocks told Exec Digital during a recent telephone interview.
In early 2000, Rocks, who at that time was working in the private sector as a health services consultant, was appointed Chairman of the NHS Board and in June accepted the position of CEO as well. "My initial charge was to change the governance and handle the settlement with the Feds. I found the financial situation was worse than anyone knew and far worse than I anticipated," says Rocks.
A self-described "team-builder by nature," Rocks rolled up his sleeves and went to work. "I was blessed with two things - being able to identify the talent that had suffered through and survived with their commitment to the mission despite being betrayed by management; and having people change their careers to come and join me to make up the new management team," he says. "I knew I was taking on the challenge of a lifetime, changing a culture and democratizing the process."
Today NHS is one of the largest community-based non-profit providers with more than 40 years experience serving special needs children and adults. It offers programs and integrated services in the areas of Behavioral Health, Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD), Addictive Diseases, Therapeutic Foster Care, Juvenile Justice, Autism and Elder Care.
The company employs 11,500, services more than 50,000 clients at 650 facilities in seven states and, Rocks says, will approach a half-billion dollars in revenue in 2009.

From there to here
Once the settlement with the federal government was finalized, Rocks says compliance "had to become a way of life for us. So I said 'Why don't we do that better than anyone else?' We're 97 percent Medicaid so, in terms of compliance, the bar should be set high because those are taxpayer dollars. We can prove at NHS that there is a return on investment."
The industry has taken notice. As an organization, NHS has been recognized nationally on numerous occasions by the Health Ethics Trust. In October 2008, Rocks was named a Fellow of the Health Ethics Trust, the highest honor bestowed by the group and given to individuals who make an exceptional contribution to healthcare compliance in the nation.
"We went from being under federal indictment to receiving the award as the most compliant organization in the country," Rocks says with great pride.

Services and programs
"NHS is different because of our integrated continuum of care. We have the ability to provide services to people with multiple challenges. For instance, a person with a developmental disability could also have an addiction problem. We can help them address both issues,' Rocks observes.
NHS has also developed important partnerships with local universities and medical schools. Their affiliation with Drexel University has allowed them to provide training for psychiatric residents from the Drexel University School of Medicine as well as pursue educational and research opportunities with other Drexel schools.
The continuum of autism services supports 2500 children and includes eight schools, in-home services and day programs. NHS is also working with the parents of autistic adults over the age of 21 on pilot programs for independent living and supportive employment. .
In 2008, NHS was asked to partner with the Tulane University School of Medicine and other community agencies to provide services in four Louisiana parishes for at-risk homeless individuals still displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
NHS also runs a substance abuse center in Philadelphia that serves 1,000 heroin-addicted clients every day and another in southern New Jersey that serves 800 clients. "The opiate/heroin epidemic on the East Coast seems to be non-stop and I never get over the shock as to how young the clients have become," Rocks says.
The company has for the past 10 years worked closely with the juvenile justice system to provide care and services to youngsters with defined mental health or behavioral issues. They have developed gender responsive programs to specifically address the needs of young women in the justice system, many of whom have been multiply abused. "We had to learn a lot about victimization. You have to get at that issue first or you will never put that life back together," asserts Rocks.

A key alliance
In February 2008 the renowned Allegheny Valley School merged with NHS and joined the NHS Human Services family of companies. For more than 40 years, AVS has provided community residential services and therapeutic programs to children and adults between the ages of 10 and 90 with intellectual and developmental disabilities at 126 facilities. By combining resources they can advocate more strongly on behalf on their consumers and extend the continuum of care available. "It's a proud affiliation for us" observes Rocks.

Caring employees
"The greatest asset we have is our employees and the most remarkable thing I've learned is the depth of caring that our employees provide," Rocks says. "We're increasingly looking for academic and clinical credentials, but nothing can replace that element of caring. I will put my team up against any other in this country" Rocks says proudly.
Rocks says the company has not yet been affected by the economic collapse. "If you're cutting staff in this industry, then you're cutting services to the clients. Given our mission and given our size, we remain committed to improving one life at a time," he concludes.

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