Carbondale Reporter

Carbondale Chamber of Commerce recently issues the following announcement.

This month, Centerstone, a national leader in behavioral health care, is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its Marion Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) facility, which provides treatment services to many whose lives have been devastated by opiate addiction.

The facility, located at 202 South Bentley in Marion, opened for clients in early April 2019. The facility offers a range of services including assessment, counseling, case management, peer support and medical services. Over the past year, Centerstone’s MAT facility in Marion treated 65 clients with Methadone, 92 with Suboxone, and 5 with Vivitrol.

“Working at the MAT clinic has been an honor for me not only because we get to help so many people regain control of their lives, but also help them begin their recovery journey,” said Mona Miller, MAT Grant Coordinator at Centerstone.

Centerstone’s Marion MAT facility was the first of its kind in Southern Illinois.

“We have helped people who have been dealing with addiction for many years, and now they are no longer using any substances and starting to heal from their addiction,” Miller said. “We have had numerous people take back control of their lives and be able to get and maintain a job.”

Centerstone’s MAT is an effective way to treat those with an opioid use disorder through a focus on recovery.

“Recovery is the personal and unique way that a person changes attitudes, feelings, goals, skills or roles to overcome addiction and live a hopeful, productive life,” said Miller.

If you or someone you know is interested in obtaining services at the new MAT facility, you can call Centerstone at 855-608-3560. A brief interview will identify your needs and determine eligibility for services.

Centerstone is the lead in an innovative Hub and Spoke model, funded through an Opioid State Targeted Response grant from SAMHSA to the Illinois Department of Human Services. The model has encouraged linkages between treatment providers who share resources, training and expertise to meet the needs of clients across several Southern Illinois counties. Partners in the endeavor include Egyptian Health Department, Gateway Foundation, and Shawnee Health Care as Spoke sites.

Hub and Spoke sites work in unison to ensure clients receive the proper care based upon the needed level of care and geographic client location.

“It is not about who ‘gets’ the client; it is about what care does the client need and who can better meet the needs of the client,” Miller said.

The MAT clinic and the Hub and Spoke project use safeguards to ensure client safety. These include use of the Illinois prescription drug monitoring program to prevent poly-pharmacy, diversion and ultimately overdose; medical withdrawal from services for clients with poly-pharmacy or referral to a higher level of care; diversion prevention strategies; observed dosing; and random drug testing.

The Centerstone Hub and Spoke project was funded in full or in part through an Opioid-State Targeted Response (STR) Grant to the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Original source can be found here.