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HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
school to earn a teaching degree. He would eventually land a job in Connecticut working in a day-treatment program for youth with behavioral- health issues.
“I was really drawn to the kids, but I felt like I didn’t have enough time with them in the school setting,” he said, adding that these sentiments led to another rather sharp turn on the career path, this one taking him to a job as director of the Adolescent and Family Services Department at the Gándara Center’s main office in Springfield.
“I think that’s where I found my passion for
“I’m blessed to work with some of the most passionate, committed, extraordinary leaders ... it’s a j”oy to come to work every day.
caring for those who are in need,” he explained. “And that’s where I started to understand business management and performance management, and that’s where I learned the invitational model of empowering people; that was the foundation for my career.”
Fast-forwarding somewhat, Paglia said he
spent nine years at Gándara before becoming program director for the Brightside Treatment Center, part of the Sisters of Providence Health
System, in 2009, and
later became director
of Outpatient Services
– Behavioral Health at
Providence Behavioral
Health Hospital, and
then executive director
of Behavioral Health
for Mercy Medical
Center and its affiliates,
including Providence
Behavioral Health
Hospital, Brightside, and
behavioral-health services
on the Mercy campus.
While he was in that
role, Trinity Health Of
New England made the
difficult decision to close
Providence Behavioral
Health Hospital in early
2021, leaving a huge void
in services available to the public.
Seeking to fill that void, Health Partners of
New England acquired the property with GFI Partners with the intention of bringing back inpatient psychiatric services and a compliment
of substance-use programming. And it turned to Paglia to get that difficult job done.
Recalling those days and, ultimately, the reopening of that facility, Paglia said the sum of his previous experiences certainly helped him overcome a number of hurdles, adding that he was essentially starting up a new business, starting
Leah Martin Photography
From left, Mark Paglia with Erin Daley, chief Nursing officer; Erica Trudell, director of Nursing for Inpatient Behavioral Health Services & Education; and Alicia Morel, Talent Acquisition specialist.
with the hiring of staff.
The first priority was the methadone clinic, which served 600 patients and needed to remain open, and did, with the transition from Trinity Health Of New England to MiraVista, sister facility to TaraVista Behavioral Health Center in Devens, taking place at midnight on April 20. What
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