FROM PRIVATE EQUITY BACKED VETERAN-OWNED COFFEE TO PTSD RELIEF

A career in finance, with stints in New York and Chicago led Oak Brook’s Michael Gershenzon to leadership roles within private equity. Investment groups are privy to interesting operations and Michael is a husband, father of three and an exceptionally kind heart, drawn to opportunities with soul.

Michael led investment in a veteran-owned coffee company, where he first encountered people openly living with the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other mental health struggles. Through the coffee company he met veterans, including a gentleman named Sean who became a close friend, who gave him a new perspective on how difficult daily life can be for those who do.

“I’ve lived a charmed life and have been incredibly fortunate to not have those challenges directly impact me,” Gershenzon says. Sean asked him to meet Dr. Eugene Lipov, who is a pioneer in treating PTSD. Feeling a little shaky in his own understanding of trauma, but trusting Sean implicitly, Michael agreed to meet the doctor.

Dr. Lipov knows first-hand that trauma can be all-consuming. He grew up in Ukrainian SSR living with a veteran father stricken with PTSD, and a mother who suffered from debilitating depression eventually taking her own life. Dr. Lipov has witnessed the physical, emotional, and psychological impact that trauma can have on the lives of many.

Additionally, in 2008, Dr. Lipov founded Erase PTSD Now, a nonprofit focused on eradicating post-traumatic stress from the lives of those impacted by it. The goal of the organization is to restore individuals, as well as affected families and communities, to a pre-trauma state. Erase PTSD Now designates most of its funding to the support of the dual sympathetic reset/stellate ganglion block treatment for survivors of trauma. Ninety percent of donations go towards the treatment of vetted applicants while the remaining 10 percent goes towards admin and care coordination costs.

In bringing more attention to the symptoms of post-traumatic stress, Dr. Lipov is leading efforts to rename post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI). A recent survey showed that the stigma of a mental disorder keeps many people from seeking help, believing their diagnosis is not treatable and this negative association can lead to suicides, domestic violence, etc. While the term PTSD references posttraumatic stress as a “disorder”, it’s been proven to be a biological “injury” and should be referred to as PTSI, post-traumatic stress injury. Even the military community has expressed support for the name change.

The meeting went well, but the story took a turn. In November of 2019 while outwardly happy and seemingly fine, Sean died by suicide. This galvanized Michael’s wish to be a part of something more meaningful. He and Dr. Lipov took the idea of a center for treatment to Sterling Partners. Three visionary partners at the firm saw the possibilities and Stella Health launched in February of 2020.

‘The worst time in the history of time to launch into health care,” Gershenzon says wryly. They shifted and evolved, successful guiding the opening of a center for excellence here in our area.

Thousands of Dr. Lipov’s procedures are being done each year among Special Forces and the military at Fort Bragg alone. Dr. Lipov has done grand rounds on his revelatory relief at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C., and Womack Military Hospital on Fort Bragg.

This Veterans Day, those who served can receive the same treatment locally. So can anyone who would like to feel their best mentally. All thanks the power of capital combined with caring and one financier’s wish to do more with his life.

stellacenter.com