A hospital in York, Maine recently launched a drug addiction treatment center with new programs to treat people with substance use disorders.
York Hospital has opened an outpatient treatment center earlier this month called the York Recovery Center, which focuses on medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs to assist those with a substance use disorder. It is the first addiction treatment program to use MAT in Southern York. There are only 15 addiction treatment programs (out of 200) in Maine that use MAT to assist patients.
There are currently only two addiction treatment programs in York, according to the 2017 National Directory of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Facilities.
There were 60 drug-related deaths in York in 2016, which accounted for 16 percent of the overall 376 deaths in Maine, according to the Maine Heath Index. This represented the second highest number of drug overdose deaths in the state — just behind Cumberland, which had 78 deaths.
The staff at the new addiction treatment center usually see people within 48 hours of entrance and the patients are evaluated. If the counselor determines that the patient is a good fit for MAT, a doctor will see them afterward.
York’s outpatient addiction treatment recovery program has two main phases regarding the use of MAT to treat patients.
Phase one includes six to eight weeks of uninterrupted treatment. That would feature patients meeting three times a week to converse about addiction, family issues and wellness. Phase two involves an 18-week support group, where patients meet for an hour and a half one a week. The point of phase two is to continue treatment while preparing the patient for a life of sobriety.
If the patient needs assistance getting to the Recovery Center, a hospital van is assigned to pick them up from their homes and drop them off when the sessions end.
The Recovery Center also offers buprenorphine to the patients in order to hold off the addiction cravings.
Argilla George, the Recovery Center’s medical director, stated that after taking buprenorphine, the patient starts to feel psychically better. She also highlighted that buprenorphine prescription training has been completed by 10 York county doctors and one of them practices at the Recovery Center every Tuesday.
Eric Haram, a recovery center consultant who began the first MAT program in Maine, said that the buprenorphine silences the addiction and cuts the overdose potential in half.
He said when patients arrive… (Continue Reading)
Author: Robert B. Hayek
Robert B Hayek is a reporter for Addiction Now and covers features and local spotlight stories. He previously worked for Fox Sports as a production assistant as well as a writer and reporter for an online website called Real Talk Sports Network. He has lived in Southern California his entire life, is a lover of books and writing and also surfs. Contact Robert at roberth@addictionnow.com
