Saginaw, MI – Great Lakes Bay Health Centers began offering services for substance use disorders (SUD) less than five years ago, and continue to expand its outreach. The program started in Saginaw at the GLBHC-Janes Street center, then moved to the new GLBHC-Davenport center in 2018.
At Davenport’s walk-in Wellness and Recovery Center, GLBHC partners with Ten16 Network of Midland to have persons in recovery serve at coaches. A new Recovery Center has just opened at GLBHC-Bay City South on Trumbell. Both centers also have their own pharmacies, which offer low-cost medications.
The SUD program includes behavioral health counseling and psychiatry, peer coaching and group sessions – in conjunction with medication assisted treatment to help reduce cravings and support recovery.
Vivitrol (Naltrexone) is a monthly injection that aids in treating opioid and/or alcohol dependence. It is not a narcotic and it’s non-addictive. It is available at GLBHE-Davenport, Bay City South and Thumb Area (Bad Axe) and Shiawassee (Owosso) locations.
Davenport has begun offering Suboxone (Buprenorphine) as a medication-assisted treatment, as well. This offers another option for patients in recovery.
This medication is taken in strip or tablet form, which is placed under the tongue until it dissolves in about 30 minutes. It is a long-acting opioid medication, which binds to an opioid receptor in the brain. Suboxone can also help with the symptoms of withdrawl, making it a bridge to recovery.
This treatment is part of the integrated behavioral health services offered along with primary care at GLBHC medical center. Therapists work with medical care providers to treat the whole person.
The sign over the coach in the Recovery Center at Bay City South says “Come in and stay a while.” Alesha Weigl, who has worked as a recovery coach for 2 years, painted it herself. “Recovery happens in safe places,” she says. She wants anyone who is interested in learning about recovery to feel comfortable coming up the stairs to her office. She is ready to greet them. She is also the co-chair of the Bay County Prevention Network. She expects patients to learn about the center mostly through word of mouth.
About 700 GLBHC patients are currently prescribed a Medication-Assisted Treatment such as Vivitrol or Suboxone. Patient records show that about 8 percent of the 50,000 patients at all GLBHC centers are diagnosed with a substance use disorder.
“Patients have to be committed to this program,” said Gail McGee, SUD/Expanding Services Manager. “It is fairly rigid with its requirements. Patients must be in counseling, peer recovery and therapy groups, along with the medication. We feel strongly this is the right program. It’s not the medicine that does the work of recovery, it is the behavioral changes. People can recover and we see it making a difference in their lives.”
Steve Scheib, the SUD counselor at Bay City South, is excited to be part of the program and opening the doors to the public. His experience as a veteran and a person in recovery helps him to connect to many patients, he said.
“Some people are still afraid to get to know people in recovery,” he said. “We are here to be welcoming and not judgmental. When they first come in, they say this is nice. They don’t expect to feel appreciated.”
Staff are working to spread the word about the services at Davenport and Bay City South. With additional growth, they plan to build out additional space at the Bay City South center to add Suboxone treatment there too.
“With how unique this program is, we know more and more people will come in once the recovery community is more aware of us,” Scheib said.
GLBHC is taking SUD treatment into communities to partner locations in Saginaw, Bay City, Caro and Midland on a mobile medical unit. The custom-renovated RV houses primary medical care and behavioral health services on wheels. It can take Vivitrol to patients who can’t get to a center. Locations include Restoration Community Outreach in Saginaw and probation/parole offices in Caro.
Another way GLBHC is reaching people struggling with substance use is through a grant-funded Quick Response Team that brings together community recovery partners to make home visits to individuals who have experienced an overdose. Referrals come from ambulance and emergency room encounters. GLBHC’s SUD program is a long-term resource to help these patients stay in recovery after they have accepted initial inpatient care to stop using a substance.
