An aerial view of UVA Health, which includes the UVA School of Medicine and School of Nursing.
Backed by a new grant, UVA Health’s opioid-use disorder clinic will expand access to care by providing money to patients for social needs – such as housing, transportation or food – that limit their ability to get treatment.
UVA Health is one of 10 hospitals and health systems nationwide that will receive up to $50,000 from the Essential Hospitals Institute to create social-medicine programs as part of an effort to reduce barriers to care for opioid-use disorder. The program is expected to launch in July.
Virginians calling the free statewide opioid helpline operated by UVA’s Center for Leading-Edge Addiction Research (CLEAR) — 1.877.OPIOIDS — will be offered assistance through this new initiative, as will appropriate inpatients seen at University of Virginia Medical Center. Patients in need of assistance may also contact the clinic directly at 434.924.2241. Clinic providers hope to assist more than 500 patients through the initiative.
“Providing funds directly to support patients’ social needs is something this clinic has never been able to do before but is something that patients have identified as a significant barrier to treatment,” said Kelly Schorling, LCSW, a UVA Health social worker at the clinic.
Read full press release in UVA Health newsroom.
Filed Under: Clinical