Doug Weiss has been tasked with moving to a different type of business to develop new products several times in his career. The list includes corporate wellness at The Travelers, healthcare decision counseling at Merck-Medco, fertility programs at IntegraMed and new eating disorder levels of care at Eating Recovery Center. Most recently, in his role as president and CEO at Gallus Medical Detox Centers, Weiss has helped transform acute substance treatment with inpatient medical detoxification services.
Gallus Medical Detox Centers is a behavioral health company providing inpatient medical detox services. “Our mission is to provide the highest quality inpatient medical detox services using evidence based oral and IV medication protocols that avoid cross-addiction,” the company said.
Gallus Medical Detox Centers was founded in 2011 by Dr. Patrick Gallus, an ER physician who recognized the need for inpatient medical detox services to reduce stigma, trauma and painful withdrawal in order to establish a foundation for recovery. SCB Capital acquired the company in 2019 and Weiss was hired to expand the business from one clinic to a national network.
The Denver clinic opened in May 2020 followed by three clinics in 2022 in Las Vegas, Dallas and San Antonio. Planned 2023 openings include Houston; Minneapolis; Rockville, Maryland; and White Plains, New York.
Weiss describes four pillars to effective leadership and he works to put these into practice in his role at Gallus. “Defining and establishing clearly and visibly the company’s mission. Recognizing leadership is a responsibility, not a privilege. Creating energy and vision. Earning trust,” he said.
Under Weiss’ leadership from 2019 to 2022, the company has grown five-fold. The 2023 annual revenue is forecast to be almost 20 times greater than in 2019. Gallus has pioneered new protocols to treat acute substance use disorder patients, including opiate detox for patients taking fentanyl, which reduces withdrawal symptoms by 40%, and a benzodiazepine detox coupled with a taper program, which enables individuals to start aftercare sooner.
In 2021, the company developed the Gallus Treatment Platform, a proprietary electronic medical record and patient relationship management system that uses artificial intelligence to customize protocols for each patient.
Gallus leads the industry in patient outcomes with a treatment completion rate of 90%, aftercare participation rate of 88%, decrease in patient depression of 25% and improved confidence in recovery of 30%. “The Gallus Treatment Platform offers the highest quality of care with four-times better chance of long-term recovery and a 3:1 return on investment on treatment cost,” the company said.
