Dennis Haynes brings his personal recovery experience to work every day as a Senior Peer Navigator at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital’s Center for Psychiatric and Chemical Dependency Services.
His job has wide-ranging responsibilities: providing support to individuals in all stages of recovery, facilitating warm handoffs from area hospitals, coordinating with members of an interdisciplinary team, completing clinical documentation, and serving as a representative of the recovery community, just to name a few.
During the most isolated days of the pandemic, with potential clients facing long waitlists, he created a peer-run support group to connect people while they were waiting for services. He is loved and admired by clients, peers, and colleagues.
Dennis’s nomination said, “Not only is he hard working and passionate about his work, he’s also one of the kindest, warmest, happiest people you’ll ever meet. It is unusual to see Dennis without a smile on his face; his positivity is infectious.”