Before It Was a Celebrity Trend, A Mother's Last Hope: Louisiana Clinic That Pioneered NAD+ IV Therapy Marks 25 Years
Springfield Wellness Center — the first U.S. clinic to deliver intravenous NAD+ for addiction recovery — celebrates a quarter-century of the BR+NAD® protocol
HAMMOND, LA, UNITED STATES, April 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Twenty-five years before Hailey Bieber made NAD+ a household name and long before IV lounges opened on every luxury high street, a Louisiana therapist was quietly changing lives from a country estate off a two-lane road in Hammond.
Today, Springfield Wellness Center — founded in 2001 by Paula Norris Mestayer, M.Ed., LPC, FAPA, and Richard F. Mestayer III, M.D. — marks 25 years as the nation's first clinic to administer intravenous NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) for addiction recovery, and the birthplace of the proprietary BR+NAD® (Brain Restoration Plus NAD®) protocol that patients now travel across the country to access.
The Story Behind the Science
Springfield's origin is not a boardroom story. It's a mother's story.
Before there was a clinic, there was a daughter in crisis — and a mother who refused to accept relapse, replacement drugs, or resignation. When Mestayer, a licensed psychotherapist and Fellow of the American Psychotherapy Association, witnessed what an experimental NAD+ infusion did for a young woman battling addiction, she described the moment that would define the next 25 years: "She came home clean and happy. Her personality returned to the child I knew."
That sentence became a mission. In 2001, Paula and Dr. Richard Mestayer opened Springfield Wellness Center and began treating patients with a structured, physician-supervised NAD+ IV protocol they would trademark as BR+NAD®.
25 Years Later: Pioneer Meets Boom
The wellness industry has caught up. The question is whether it can catch up responsibly.
NAD+ IV therapy is now a fast-growing industry, with A-list endorsements from celebrities fueling a wave of pop-up drip bars, mobile IV services, and wellness franchises.
Springfield Wellness Center was there 24 years before any of them.
"We were researching, refining, and administering NAD+ before there were IV lounges, before social media buzz, before the celebrity endorsements," said Mestayer. "We're not chasing a trend. We helped start the field — and we've spent 25 years learning how to do it carefully, under medical oversight, with real patients whose lives depend on getting this right."
What Makes BR+NAD® Different
BR+NAD® is delivered exclusively in a clinical setting under physician supervision. Patients travel from across the country for Springfield's 10-day outpatient program, which the clinic reports has helped thousands address alcohol and opioid dependence, benzodiazepine and stimulant withdrawal, PTSD and traumatic brain injury, neurodegenerative conditions, and chronic stress, depression, and anxiety. The country-estate setting pairs BR+NAD® infusions with counseling, hyperbaric oxygen, photobiomodulation, PEMF, and auricular cool-laser therapy.
Three Organizations, One Mission
Over 25 years, Springfield has grown into a three-part BR+NAD® family:
Springfield Wellness Center (patient care), BR+MD Consultants (physician training), and NAD Research, Inc. (clinical research and the annual BR+NAD® Brain Restoration Summit — the only international gathering devoted specifically to NAD+ practice and research).
Dr. Louis Cataldie, addiction medicine specialist and author of 10,000 Addicts Later, has noted that Mestayer's clinical experience using NAD+ for addiction exceeds that of any other provider in the field — a distinction built one 10-day program at a time, for a quarter-century.
A Growing Team for the Next 25 Years
To meet rising demand and deepen clinical capacity, Springfield Wellness Center has expanded its leadership team with three key additions: Dr. David Cuccia, M.D., joins as Primary Consulting Physician; Jennifer Harris, Nurse Practitioner, strengthens direct patient care; and Jackie Shubert comes on as Medical Practice Consultant, supporting operational excellence across the clinic.
What's Next
In its 25th-anniversary year, Springfield will expand patient education, grow physician training through BR+MD Consultants, and continue publishing clinical insights through NAD Research, Inc. The clinic is also preparing new materials to help consumers distinguish medically supervised BR+NAD® care from the wave of unregulated NAD+ offerings.
"Our job for the next 25 years is to make sure answers are grounded in medicine, research, and what's actually best for the patient," Mestayer said.
About Springfield Wellness Center
Founded in 2001 by Paula Norris Mestayer and Dr. Richard F. Mestayer III, Springfield Wellness Center is the Louisiana-based clinic that introduced intravenous NAD+ treatment for addiction recovery to the United States. The clinic developed the BR+NAD® protocol in 2001 and anchors the BR+NAD® family alongside BR+MD Consultants (training) and NAD Research, Inc. (research).
Christine Haas
Christine Haas Media
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