By Mayra Rodriguez, PA-C
Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) is the use of FDA approved medications to treat various substance use disorders, including alcohol and opioid addiction, in combination with behavioral therapy, to provide individuals the greatest chance of sustained recovery.
At Huther Doyle, we understand that when an individual is ready for change it is important for treatment providers to also be ready to offer the services - on demand. For this reason, Huther Doyle has improved accessibility to services by providing walk-in hours for intake evaluations and assessments by a member of the medical team to evaluate if MAT is appropriate and indicated. We offer MAT to treat opioid, alcohol, cocaine and tobacco use disorders. Our providers will work with the individual through the stabilization and maintenance phase of treatment. Once the individual is stable and near completion of their behavioral therapy, we coordinate transitions to a primary care provider for continuation of MAT after the patient leaves Huther Doyle. Through our Opiate Overdose Prevention Program, we are also able to offer trainings to staff, patients, family and community members on how to respond to an overdose and provide the lifesaving medication, Narcan.
I choose to work at Huther Doyle 9 years ago as a new graduate Physician Assistant because I wanted to dedicate my career working with the inner-city Hispanic community. Huther Doyle is one of the few chemical dependence programs in the area to continue to offer services in Spanish. After working in our Esperanza Latina program and as the opioid epidemic continued to expand in our community, a passion grew in me to incorporate addiction services into primary care treatment. As the laws and legislations changed to allow PA/NP to prescribe MAT for opioid use disorder, it gave me a unique opportunity to combine my experience of addiction medicine and primary care. I returned to Huther Doyle for the opportunity to help individuals at the beginning of their recovery journey and I stayed in primary care to allow those individuals a smooth transition and the greatest chance of sustained recovery possible after they complete their addiction treatment.
~Mayra is the Director of Medical Services here at Huther Doyle~
Walk-in hours for evaluations and assessments are:
Monday through Friday at 8am, 10am, 12:30pm and 2pm.
Or call us to make an appointment at (585) 325-5100