Our Addiction Experts
Our Executive Team
Legacy Healing Center proudly serves individuals and families across the country, offering exceptional drug and alcohol addiction treatment at every location. From our compassionate staff to our evidence-based clinical model, each facility delivers the same unwavering commitment to long-term healing and personalized care.
Ben Fox
Co-Owner | Co-Founder | Chief Executive Officer
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Ben Fox, Co-Founder and CEO of Legacy Healing Center, leads with the rare combination of strategic vision and lived experience. With 14 years in recovery, he brings authenticity, humility, and a deep understanding of the courage it takes to seek help. His leadership has shaped Legacy into a place grounded in trust, compassion, and evidence-based excellence across New Jersey.Leadership Rooted in Lived Experience
Ben’s personal journey guides the culture he cultivates, one defined by dignity, meaningful support, and the belief that every person deserves a genuine chance at rebuilding their life.Shaping Legacy’s East Coast Identity
In New Jersey, Ben has focused on creating programs that reflect the region’s unique needs: privacy, clinical strength, and individualized pathways to long-term healing.Driving Innovation with Integrity
He champions growth that prioritizes client care above all else, ensuring every service offered in New Jersey aligns with Legacy’s high standards. Ben’s mission remains consistent: to create a healing environment where clinical excellence meets human connection. Through his guidance, Legacy’s New Jersey center stands as a trusted place for recovery, renewal, and transformation.
Marc Effron
Co-Owner | Co-Founder | Chief Operations Officer
Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer
Marc Effron, Co-Founder and COO of Legacy Healing Center, blends business leadership, personal recovery, and a philosophy rooted in accountability and heart. His background in finance and behavioral health, paired with years of sobriety, helped build Legacy’s New Jersey presence into a highly respected treatment resource for individuals and families across the region.A Leader Who Understands the Journey
Marc’s own recovery shapes the empathy, ethics, and family-centered values that drive New Jersey’s programs and the staff who deliver them.Operational Excellence with a Human Touch
His approach combines structure with empowerment. In New Jersey, he ensures clients receive clinically sound care while also gaining the tools to rebuild their confidence and identity.Community Impact Beyond the Facility
Through motivational speaking, mentorship, and The Marc Effron Foundation, he supports ongoing recovery within the wider East Coast community. Marc’s vision continues to influence every aspect of Legacy Healing Center in New Jersey, from day-to-day operations to long-term program development, building a place where people can begin again with clarity, support, and purpose.
Ash Bhatt, M.D., M.R.O., FASAM
Chief Medical Officer
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Ash Bhatt, Legacy Healing Center’s Chief Medical Officer, brings exceptional clinical expertise to New Jersey’s treatment programs. A quintuple board-certified physician specializing across addiction medicine, psychiatry, brain injury medicine, and preventive medicine, he offers unmatched medical insight for complex dual-diagnosis and co-occurring cases.Comprehensive Medical Leadership
Dr. Bhatt has overseen emergency psychiatric units, detox programs, inpatient treatment, and outpatient systems, giving him a uniquely wide-ranging understanding of behavioral healthcare.Expertise in Neurological + Psychiatric Complexity
As a Fellow of ASAM, Certified Medical Review Officer, and Academy Certified Brain Injury Specialist, he addresses disorders across mood, cognition, trauma, addiction, and neuropsychiatry with precision.Setting a High Standard for New Jersey
His administrative experience with JCAHO, DCF, and AHCA ensures Legacy’s New Jersey operations exceed clinical and regulatory expectations. In New Jersey, Dr. Bhatt’s leadership anchors Legacy Healing Center’s reputation for safe, ethical, evidence-based medical care, helping clients restore stability, health, and long-term recovery.
Phyllis Rodriguez, PMHNP-BC
Psychiatric-Mental Health Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Phyllis Rodriguez is a board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC) with a strong commitment to helping individuals reclaim their lives from addiction. With specialized training in substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions, she takes a holistic, compassionate approach to care. At Legacy Healing Center, she collaborates closely with a multidisciplinary team to create personalized treatment plans, which include psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and supportive therapy. Driven by a passion for recovery and mental wellness, Phyllis empowers clients to heal, grow, and achieve lasting change.
Sonia Rose
Assistant Program Director
As Assistant Program Director at our New Jersey-based luxury treatment center, Sonia, brings a blend of clinical expertise and compassionate leadership to support clients on their journey to recovery. She ensures that every aspect of the program reflects the highest standards of care, comfort, and integrity. Known for her empathy and attention to detail, she fosters an environment where healing and personal growth can truly flourish.
Alex Herrera
Director of Performance Improvement
Alex Herrera is the Director of Performance Improvement at Legacy Healing Center and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 11 years of experience in addiction treatment and co-occurring mental health care. With a strong clinical foundation and extensive leadership background, she specializes in systemic and relational approaches that support individuals and families through complex recovery journeys.
Alex is deeply committed to helping people reconnect with their authentic selves and rebuild meaningful relationships through individualized, evidence-based care. Grounded in empathy and informed by years of hands-on clinical work, she plays a key role in advancing the high standards of care that define Legacy Healing Center.
Todd Ludwig
ARNP-Psych
Christina Holmes
Executive Program Director
Christina Holmes was raised in Plantation, Fl. Struggling with addiction since high school, her addiction consumed her life for many years. Waking up one morning feeling sick and tired, she went to treatment hoping things would get better while giving herself the opportunity to learn her true power. Christina has been sober for six years now and is raising four beautiful daughters in a life of recovery. She started working at Legacy Healing Center as a Behavioral Health Technician five years ago and grew within the company to case management and now works as the Program Director. Christina is also a Certified Life Coach. She is blessed with the opportunity to help others struggling with addiction and provides all she can to help.
