Addictions Recovery Center Inc. (ARC) is pleased to announce Doug Diehl, MD has joined the ARC team as the agency’s new Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Diehl replaces Dr. Brandon Lynch, who joined ARC shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. According to ARC President and CEO Lori Paris, Dr. Lynch’s leadership was vital in helping the agency navigate the public health crisis.

“I am very grateful to Dr. Lynch, our Chief Medical Officer, who provided us with critical medical leadership and expertise during the pandemic without having to shut down any of our 24/7 programs, including Fresh Start Detox and Sobering, our men’s and women’s residential treatment programs and our Addiction Medicine Clinic,” Paris said. “Dr. Lynch has been a wonderful member of the ARC executive team and we wish him the very best in his new endeavors.”

Dr. Lynch said he is excited to return to his roots in primary care, and that he hopes to be involved with ARC moving forward. He added that, despite the challenges of the time, being part of the ARC team was a positive experience like no other.

“The culture of the ARC is one like I’ve never experienced before, both dedicated to the work with passion unlike any other organization I’ve had privilege to be part of,” Dr. Lynch said. “They are fully committed to taking care of one another along the way.”

Dr Diehl joins ARC at a time when the agency is looking to move past the historic events of the last year – including the local wildfires – and re-establish capacity that was lowered across programs during the pandemic.

“I am so very grateful to our team who showed unwavering commitment to the population we serve and to our community during this time,” Paris said. “We have started our efforts to expand capacity and outpatient in-person services, as well as reassess the integration and scope of our medical services.”

Dr. Diehl seconded Paris’s enthusiasm for the future, saying, “I am very excited to join Addictions Recovery Center as Chief Medical Officer. During my clinical practice and medical leadership roles in Southern Oregon, I have recognized that ARC has been an integral and very important component of the overall healthcare delivery system.”

Joining the ARC team is only the next phase of Dr. Diehl’s impact on the health landscape in Southern Oregon. He and his wife Patti originally moved to the area in 2002 where he joined the staff at Ashland Community Hospital and became the Medical Director of the Operating Room, as well as managing partner of their anesthesia group. During this time, he served in numerous clinical and administrative leadership roles as well as serving on the hospital board of directors. After affiliation with the Asante Health System, Dr. Diehl joined Asante Physician Partners (APP) as Executive Medical Director and subsequent APP Chief Medical Officer. And all this comes after literally experiencing a life of highs and lows.

“I grew up on a large cattle ranch in southwestern Montana,” Dr. Diehl said.  “I became an avid backpacker and climber tackling the likes of Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Mt Rainier, the Na Pali Coast, Mt Haleakala, Mt Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater.”

At age 16, Dr. Diehl received an appointment as a page in the US House of Representatives and served until he graduated from the Capitol Page School, ending with a stint in the White House. He was present for the original Saudi oil embargo, Roe vs Wade, Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon. From there he returned to Montana to obtain his undergraduate degree at Carroll College and then attended medical school at Cornell University Medical College in New York City.

After moving to New Mexico for his internship in Internal Medicine, Dr. Diehl accepted a position as the Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director at the Chippewa Health Center, located within the boundaries of a Native American reservation. He then completed his specialty residency training in Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and in addition to staying on as a clinical instructor at UCSD, he entered private practice in California for ten years. It is this life of service – in both a professional and personal capacity – that he and Patti carry on to this day.

“Both my wife and I have a strong volunteer ethic in the community,” Diehl said. “I have served on the Hearts and Vines Foundation board, which is a strong supporter of Dunn House and other victim services organizations locally. I have also served on the Britt Festivals board as well as being involved in a number of local health initiatives designed to address access and care for our most vulnerable populations.”

And it is this desire to expand access to care that made ARC the perfect fit.

“What I did not fully appreciate until becoming a part of the ARC team was the breadth and depth of the essential programs as well as their deep commitment to the vulnerable populations and communities they serve. ARC has a strong, clear vision coupled with strong performance.

“Past history and my personal experience in medical leadership have taught me that, ‘Vision without execution is hallucination.’  The ARC team has not lost sight of this.”