Alsana® Announces Medical Enhancements and New Leadership for Eating Disorder Treatment Programs in St. Louis

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Apr 25, 2022, 08:39 ET

Dr. Ryan Lee, DNP, PMHNP-BC and Jessica Neal, RN, BSN, MBA join Alsana St. Louis' Medical Team, enhancing care quality for clients recovering from eating disorders and co-occurring conditions.

ST. LOUIS, April 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alsana, a holistic, evidence-based eating disorder treatment provider, has announced two additions to its in-person medical treatment team in St. Louis, MO, with Dr. Ryan Lee, DNP, PMHNP-BC, and Jessica Neal, RN, BSN, MBA serving as Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and Director of Nursing, respectively.

Alsana offers Residential and PHP/IOP programs in the greater St. Louis area, providing life-saving care for clients struggling with eating disorders and co-occurring conditions, including anxiety, depression, and trauma. These programs, led by Senior Regional Executive Director Rebekah Freese, MSW, LCSW, Ph.D., are built on the foundation of the Adaptive Care Model®, an individualized approach that seeks to facilitate healing for the whole person through medical, nutritional, and therapeutic care alongside movement and relational dimensions. Dr. Lee and Neal are leaders in the Medical Dimension of the Adaptive Care Model led by industry leading eating disorder expert, Dr. Margherita Mascolo, MD, CEDS-S.

Dr. Mascolo explains that clients must feel safe to commit to treatment fully and participate in building health resilience and a strong foundation for recovery. "Compassionate nurses have never been more important than now," she said. "Eating disorder recovery is a difficult, vulnerable process. Our nurses are instrumental in creating a safe environment for healing. They are very intentional both about the care they provide and the quality of the connections they build with clients. I am confident in the experience, expertise, and compassionate approach that Dr. Lee and Jessica embody as leaders."

Dr. Lee is a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner who joins Alsana with more than a decade of prior professional experience working across the continuum of healthcare, including outpatient clinics, intensive-outpatient and partial hospitalization programs, residential treatment programs, inpatient psychiatric units, inpatient detoxification centers, and psychiatric emergency departments. In his new role as Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Dr. Lee will collaborate with Alsana St. Louis' clinical team to help guide treatment planning to ensure positive client outcomes. He will also be responsible for the formulation of accurate diagnoses and support treatment of complex psychiatric conditions, including prescribing, evaluating, and monitoring response to medications.

"Being part of a team of eating disorder industry experts has always been something I have aspired to," said Dr. Lee. "What excites me even more about this opportunity is Alsana's ability to be adaptive; they lean into challenges, drive innovation, and continue to grow within a field that has historically been resistant to change."

Since 2008, Neal has been gaining valuable experience working in multiple areas of healthcare, from direct client care as a surgical step-down nurse to the business side of care working in insurance account management. As Director of Nursing, Neal guides Alsana St. Louis' nursing teams and helps to ensure the quality and consistency of care provided by medical teams for in-person programs in Missouri. She works collaboratively with Alsana's National Nursing Director, Corrine Elliot, BSN, CEDRN-S, NC-BC, to identify and implement changes to nursing best practices and develop procedural goals.

"My hope for our clients is that they don't feel alone," Neal said. "The most fulfilling and meaningful part of working with Alsana is the knowledge that I get to be part of clients' recovery journeys. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to seek assistance with struggles as profound as those faced by our clients, and I consider it an honor to walk alongside them as they grow and heal."

Learn more about Alsana's approach to medical care at alsana.com/medical.

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About Alsana®
Alsana is an eating recovery community and treatment provider with in-person Residential and PHP/IOP programs in Alabama (Birmingham and Huntsville), California (Monterey, Santa Barbara, Westlake Village, and Thousand Oaks), and Missouri (St. Louis), and Virtual PHP/IOP offerings across the United States. Their approach to eating disorder treatment is compassionate, evidence-based, and designed in alignment with the Adaptive Care Model®. This holistic method seeks to address healing in all areas of clients' lives by integrating medical, nutritional, and therapeutic care with movement and relational therapies. Alsana serves adult clients of all genders and sexual identities struggling with a broad spectrum of eating, feeding, and co-occurring disorders. Alsana's programs accommodate the unique needs of vegan clients and clients struggling with ED-DMT1, also known as "diabulimia." Learn more at alsana.com or visit alsanareviews.com. Follow on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.