May 16, 2015
The behavioral health field lost a great leader on May 7, 2015, with the sudden passing of Mike Boyle.
Mike’s nearly 40-year career at
Fayette Companies (now known as The Human Service Center) in Peoria, Illinois was focused on improving the quality of care for people suffering from substance use and mental health disorders. From his start as a youth outreach worker, Mike went on to lead Fayette Companies as president and CEO. Upon his retirement, he joined the Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies at the UW-Madison as a Senior Innovation Officer.
Under Mike’s leadership, Fayette Companies was among the nation’s first treatment agencies to test the NIATx model of process improvement, as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Paths to Recovery project. One of Fayette Companies’ first NIATx change projects focused on increasing retention in treatment at the agency’s residential program for women. With Mike at the helm, NIATx tools and techniques became part of Fayette Companies organizational culture. Fayette Companies has contributed to the success of numerous NIATx projects as well as to the development of Addiction-CHESS.
Mike loved to share his lessons with the field in writing, as a lead author or contributor to several scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He wrote frequently for the
NIATx E-news and the
ATTC/NIATx Service Improvement Blog, and also served on the editorial board for
The Bridge, the ATTC Network’s quarterly research e-zine. Mike’s knowledge and experience appears in a range of NIATx publications, including
Getting Started with Medication-Assisted Treatment, the
NIATx Workbook, and
The NIATx Third-Party Billing Guide, and
NIATx: Process Improvement in Behavioral Health.
Mike often said that he was fortunate to work with NIATx and the Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies, but we were really fortunate to have him as one of our biggest champions. Here, some who worked closely with Mike share their thoughts on his commitment to quality care, innovation, and his lasting impact on the addiction treatment field:
