Cherie D. Tolley, Chief Executive Officer
Cherie (CT) was appointed to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) position at Waypoint Recovery Center after serving as the CEO of Willingway Inc. in Statesboro, GA for over 5 years. Cherie has been in the behavioral health field for almost 45 years and has been a hospital CEO for 20 years. Prior to taking over at Willingway, she owned and operated Crescent Behavioral Health, LLC, a consulting services company for private behavioral health partners. Cherie has served as the Vice President of Clinical Operations for Meridian Behavioral Health Systems and was the CEO of Palmetto Behavioral Health Systems in Charleston SC for 10 years. She is a native of South Carolina.
ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS
• Bachelor of Science, University of North Alabama, 1977
• Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling, University of North Alabama, 1980
• Coursework completed toward PsyD at California Southern University
John E. Emmel, M.D., Medical Director
John E Emmel, MD, attended both undergraduate and medical school at Brown University in Providence, RI. He completed his Family Medicine Residency at the Medical University of South Carolina. He became interested in addiction during his residency and has been Medical Director of Charleston Center since 1980. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. He has extensive experience in MAT, withdrawal management and the use of ASAM Criteria. He has served as the Medical Director at Waypoint Recovery Center since it opened. He also serves as Medical Director for the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) of SC. He holds a clinical faculty position at the Medical University of South Carolina in the departments of both Family Medicine and Psychiatry. Dr. Emmel also works in geriatrics and holds board certifications in Geriatrics, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
As a clinician and educator, Dr. Emmel approaches addiction as a biobehavioral disease requiring the same multimodal approaches as all chronic diseases do to optimize outcomes.
Dr. Stanley M. Harris, Director of Nursing, EdD
Stanley started his nursing career as a CNA, in 1976, in long-term care and developed a passion for the geriatric population. He obtained his LPN Diploma in 1984 from Baldwin Vocational School of Practical Nursing. Continuing his education, he earned his Associate of Science in Nursing and Associate of Arts in Secondary Education in 1988 from Middle Georgia State University (formerly Middle Georgia College), then obtained his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Albany State University (formerly Albany State College) in 1991, and his Master of Science in Nursing degree from Georgia State University in 1995, all in Georgia.
Stanley continued his post-masters studies and received his Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership in 2012 from the University of Phoenix. His research interests include role strain, sex-role stereotyping, and low self-esteem issues among individuals working in nontraditional professions, such as men in nursing. Dr. Harris has over 37 years of clinical and managerial experience in the nursing profession and over 45 years of experience in health care collectively. Dr. Harris is a member of several professional organizations including Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Chi Eta Phi, Prince Hall Masons of South Carolina, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, American Nurses Association, National League of Nursing, and the South Carolina Nurses Association.
Kristen Bartos, Director of Admissions
Kristen Bartos joined the Waypoint team as an Intake Specialist in 2021 and was promoted to Director of Admissions in July 2022. As a Waypoint alumnus, she has a great perspective to share with current and prospective clients. “Waypoint is so special to me, not only did it help me get my life back it also gave me the opportunity to give back what was so freely given to me.
I love being of service to the community that saved me. Kristen resides in Columbia, SC with her supportive husband and teenage daughter. She is very active in her local recovery community and the Waypoint alumni network and incorporates meditation and 12-step yoga into her personal recovery program.
Ryan Mitchiner, Director of Business Development
Ryan, a native of Georgia, graduated with honors from UGA in 2003 and began his career with a large architecture and planning firm in Atlanta. After struggling with alcohol addiction for more than a decade, he completed residential treatment in 2012 and then moved to Asheville, NC to continue his personal recovery at Oak Tree Recovery – an intensive sober living program for young men. Ryan began working as a house manager there in the summer of 2013 and discovered a passion for helping others in early recovery. Ryan also served as Director of Outreach and Admissions for Oak Tree and eventually Co-owner in 2017 upon the founder’s retirement.
Over those years as an aftercare provider, Ryan developed a working relationship with and a love for the programs and people at Waypoint Recovery Center and multiple other Summit BHC facilities. Ryan spent two and a half years covering the Carolinas and Tennessee for another residential treatment center before joining the Waypoint team on April 5th, 2022. He is a board member of PivotPOINT WNC, a therapeutic adventure non-profit based in Asheville, NC, board president of NCARR, the NC state affiliate of NARR (National Alliance of Recovery Residences), and facilitates the NC-PLA listserv. Ryan lives in Charlotte, NC, and takes an active role in the local and regional recovery communities. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking (and eating), working out, hiking, backpacking, biking, and live music.
