Emergency Rooms in Lexington, Kentucky Desperately Need More Medication-Assisted Treatment Providers. CleanSlate’s New Outpatient Center Will Help.
In Lexington, KY, emergency rooms are increasingly flooded with patients who have suffered opioid-related overdoses. Eighty-two percent of the fatal overdoses in Fayette county involve opioids.
The county has responded by creating several innovative programs to increase access to treatment. This includes providing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in emergency rooms, with a referral to a long-term care MAT provider.
The only problem: Lexington hospitals don’t have enough high-quality providers to which they can hand off patients.
CleanSlate is addressing this treatment gap with a new physician-led MAT center in Lexington.
Too many patients in Lexington can’t maintain recovery upon release from the ER because they aren’t receiving medication for their disease, said Anthony Belott, CleanSlate’s Chief Development Officer. What ensues is a cycle of relapse and despair. We’re grateful to the Lexington community for welcoming CleanSlate so warmly so that together we can help patients reclaim hope.?
Located at 1500 Leestown Rd., Suite 110, CleanSlate’s outpatient center to treat opioid and alcohol addictions will open its doors to patients on March 26th. CleanSlate participates in-network with most Medicaid and commercial providers in Kentucky so that Lexington patients can be treated with minimal or no financial burden.
Related blog: Emergency Rooms Are Starting To Treat Addiction Patients Like They Have A Disease. Because They Do.
Ground zero for the opioid epidemic
Kentucky is one of the states considered to be ground zero for the opioid epidemic, ranking third among all states in drug overdose rate. Fentanyl-related deaths have increased by 664% since 2012, nearly double the national rate.
The state received $31M from the Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and an additional $10M from the 21st Century Cures Act within the last year. Despite this infusion of funding, Kentucky’s addiction crisis persists and behaviors have been slow to change. For example, medical providers in the state have demonstrated poor adherence to the state laws surrounding prescribing limits and the use of the prescription drug monitoring program.
Lexington, the second largest city in Kentucky, has experienced a 14-fold increase in the amount of heroin seized by local law enforcement in recent years. But some stakeholders estimate that nearly half of the Lexington residents seeking buprenorphine therapy must find treatment outside of the city.
This provider shortage impacts the ability of hospitals to keep patients on a path of recovery and out of repeat visits to emergency rooms.
A JAMA study in 2015 found that patients who started buprenorphine treatment in the ER were almost twice as likely to remain in addiction treatment compared to other participants, who were referred to treatment elsewhere. Those who received addiction medication in the ER also reported less than half the days of illicit opioid use per week as the other groups.
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There are enough barriers to recovery without forcing hospital staff or patients who have just survived an overdose to hunt for a long-term MAT provider,? said Joan Erwin, CleanSlate’s Senior Vice President of Expansion Operations. Everyone who wants treatment for their disease deserves access to high-quality care. CleanSlate is committed to making MAT more available and integrated with the healthcare system in Lexington.
(Pictured, l-r, CleanSlate Lexington staff: Michael Pickett, Center Manager; Julie Willis, Medical Assistant; and Tiffany Hurst, Medical Assistant.)
Unfortunately, in this area, people have been discharged from one place or another because of just one dirty screen, so they’re afraid or too ashamed to pick up the phone and call someplace new,” said Mike Pickett, Center Manager of CleanSlate Lexington. “This could be the best day of their life, and they don’t even know it.”
Related blog: CleanSlate Opens Medication Treatment Center in Louisville to Combat “#1 Threat to Kentucky”
A successful model of care
A pioneer and leader in outpatient addiction medicine, CleanSlate is a rapidly expanding national medical group that provides treatment for the chronic disease of addiction, primarily opioid and alcohol use disorders.
The company is actively growing its footprint to expand much-needed access to outpatient medication treatment for addiction. Over the past decade, the company has treated more than 35,000 patients, with more than 12,000 patients currently being treated each month in 10 states. The Lexington center marks CleanSlate’s second center in Kentucky, along with a center in Louisville, and its 57th across the country.
“There’s no judgement here,” said Pickett. “Addiction isn’t a moral failing, and CleanSlate treats it like the chronic disease it is. Recovery from addiction can be a bumpy road, and we are there for these folks, one day at a time.”
Founded in 2009 in response to the country’s growing opioid epidemic, CleanSlate’s physician-led offices utilize medication treatment and related therapies to treat patients who suffer from addiction and associated disorders, adhering to the highest quality, evidence-based practices. The company’s program of care includes appropriate MAT prescribed by licensed medical providers, as well as clear accountability, supportive counseling, and care coordination.
Learn more about CleanSlate at www.cleanslatecenters.com, and sign up for our newsletter to receive regular insights about addiction and the opioid epidemic. To schedule an appointment at any CleanSlate drug rehab Kentucky center, please visit https://www.cleanslatecenters.com to find the center nearest you. Most CleanSlate centers accept walk-ins.
To make an appointment at CleanSlate’s Lexington center, please call 833-505-4673. To find out more details about this center, click here.
For media inquiries, please contact Amy Brunson at abrunson@cleanslatecenters.com
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