Addiction Recovery Is Readily Available with UPMC

Deaths from drug overdose continue to rise with more than 80,000 opioid-involved deaths reported in 2021. Opioid addiction afflicts every socioeconomic status, race, gender, and culture. UPMC in Central Pa. provides recovery support services and resources for those suffering from opioid or alcohol addiction. 

The UPMC Center for Addiction Recovery offers services across the region in traditional settings as well as a mobile unit.  The mobile unit became operational in May 2021 and serves locations in Cumberland, Northern Dauphin, Perry, and York Counties. A UPMC provider and a medical assistant will travel in the mobile unit to administer medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to patients with opioid and alcohol use disorders in designated areas in central Pennsylvania that lack adequate MAT services. The mobile unit allows for an additional 80 to 90 patient visits a week for a total of 5,000 medical encounters per year.  

“Many of our patients are traveling up to 90 minutes to receive care at our center in Harrisburg. This mobile unit allows us to timely address changing treatment needs and diminish the transportation barrier for our patients living and working in rural areas,” said Greg Swartzentruber, MD, UPMC Center for Addiction Recovery. 

The center is a comprehensive addiction clinic. It connects individuals to services that help patients during their road to recovery. The team provides and coordinates care, identifies health and social service barriers for early intervention, refers, and connects community-based services, and provides emotional support.  

“The Center for Addiction Recovery is designed to treat the whole person. Additionally, it is creating access to quality primary health care while reducing the stigma associated with this terrible disease that is plaguing our community,” said Tina Nixon, Vice President Mission Effectiveness, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, UPMC in Central Pa. 

Physician referrals and self-enrollment are accepted. The UPMC Center for Addiction Recovery staff works with most insurances and helps the uninsured with obtaining coverage through our certified enrollment specialists. 

“Our goal is to support everyone through their recovery journey,” says Theresa Sellers, director, Community Health Initiatives, UPMC in Central Pa. 

For more information, visit UPMC.com/CentralPa.