Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | October 2, 2023 | wbjournal.com Treating opioid addiction in the field To reach vulnerable populations, healthcare providers find news ways to deliver care where patients are most likely to need treatment BY ISABEL TEHAN WBJ Staff Writer T he Spectrum Health Systems van oen sits in the park- ing lot at 1023 Main St. in Worcester's Main South neighborhood, currently next to nothing more than an abandoned American Legion post, bought by the company in August. But every day, an average of 110 mem- bers of the community enter the van, receive a dose of methadone, and within minutes they are back to their lives and able to function for the day. e van is Spectrum Health's mobile service for opioid-use disorder treat- ment, a program the mental health and substance abuse treatment provider launched in late February, offering same- day treatment seven days a week for those seeking medication-assisted opioid recovery treatment. It is one of several moves by the Worcester-based provider to build out its operations. Spectrum will move its headquarters to Westborough in 2024, creating a hub including an intake center for patients to receive comprehensive clinical assessments, and the healthcare provider is opening a peer-to-peer recov- ery support center in Southbridge. Since February, clinicians working out of the van have seen nearly 350 individu- al patients come through. "We realize we need to start thinking about new ways to do this," said Heidi DiRoberto, region- al executive direc- tor for Spectrum Health Systems. e new ap- proach of bringing treatment into the community has been a success so far, DiRoberto said. In the fight against opioid addiction, healthcare pro- viders need to be constantly reevaluating the ways they are delivering treatment, said Kristin Nolan, Spectrum's chief behavioral health officer. "We are constantly renewing our curriculum, because addiction treatment changes all the time," Nolan said. "It's so important to deliver service in such a way that will speak to the patients" Changed government regulations made treatment options like a mobile van feasible, said DiRoberto. Federal regulations long made it a challenge to administer doses in non-traditional settings, due to a pervasive concern of misuse, but in March 2020 the U.S. Sub- stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in March 2020 loosened regulations, enabling more outpatient methadone treatment options. e target population for treatment at the van is individuals who have never accessed any kind of opioid treatment. Since the February start, 60 of the patients started medication-assisted Heidi DiRoberto, regional executive director at Spectrum Health Systems The Spectrum Health Systems mobile addiction treatment van accepts walk-ins who have never had prior treatment. PHOTOS | EDD COTE 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Worcester Boston Framingham '16 '18 '20 '22 Number of Opioid-related deaths 247 140 17 Opioid-related deaths, in large Mass. cities Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health

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