CNE pilots initiative for on-call recovery coaches

THE PROGRAM, AnchorED, was first launched at Kent Hospital in Warwick last month and will expand to Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, also a Care New England hospital. / COURTESY THE PROVIDENCE CENTER
THE PROGRAM, AnchorED, was first launched at Kent Hospital in Warwick last month and will expand to Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, also a Care New England hospital. / COURTESY THE PROVIDENCE CENTER

PROVIDENCE – In an ongoing effort to prevent drug overdose and substance abuse in Rhode Island and the region, The Providence Center, in collaboration with the R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, will provide on-call recovery coaches for patients in hospital emergency departments across Rhode Island with high rates of accidental opioid overdose.

The program, AnchorED, was first launched at Kent Hospital in Warwick last month and will expand to Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, also a Care New England hospital. Other hospital emergency departments across the state will also be implementing the program.
The Providence Center, whose services include more than 40 programs and services for mental health and addiction treatment, offers AnchorED, a program intended to reduce the instance of accidental opioid overdose by connecting patients with certified recovery coaches. The program, was developed and funded by BHDDH and will provide coaches on an on-call basis, in select emergency departments, every weekend from 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Monday.

“We are extremely pleased to offer the AnchorED program to our patients in need at Kent Hospital helping to provide a tremendous resource of support, education and eventual recovery,” said Dr. Peter Graves, chief of emergency services at Kent Hospital. “Drug overdose is a serious, ongoing occurrence in our emergency department, with a dramatic increase over the past few years in the number of patients we treat.”

CNE announced recently it is negotiating the terms of an official affiliation with The Providence Center. The formal agreement seeks to solidify the integration of behavioral health services across community-based and hospital-based systems in order to provide comprehensive treatment and support across the full continuum of care to patients with mental illness and substance use disorders.

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The hours immediately after an overdose are medically critical, but also present a unique opportunity to connect with and help those suffering from addiction. Certified Recovery Coaches will:

  • Link individuals to treatment and recovery resources.
  • Provide education on overdose, prevention, and obtaining Nalaxone.
  • Provide additional resources to patients and their family members.
  • Contact the individual after they are released, with a follow-up call.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths from drug overdose have been rising steadily over the past two decades and have become the leading cause of injury death in the United States, exceeding those from automobile accidents.

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