Nov 25, 2019
Lansdowne, PA / November 26, 2019 - - In response to the nation’s opioid crisis and increased demand for treatment, Recovery Centers of America (RCA) announced the opening of its third Medication for Addiction Treatment (“MAT”) facility, the first in Pennsylvania, in Lansdowne.
RCA’s Delaware County Healthcare Clinic, located just west of Philadelphia at 53 North Union Avenue, in Lansdowne, PA, will provide methadone and suboxone medications to those in recovery from an opioid use disorder (“OUD”).
Recovery Centers of America, an addiction healthcare network based in King of Prussia, PA, is committed to offering OUD patients Medication-Assisted-Treatment at accessible stand-alone MAT facilities across the country. In August, RCA opened Bravo Medical Clinic in Somerdale, NJ, and last year, the company opened an MAT facility in Trenton, NJ. Additionally, varying forms of MAT are offered at all RCA inpatient/outpatient programs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maryland. RCA accepts Medicaid at the new Delaware County facility and at its other standalone MAT locations and is in-network with most private insurers for inpatient/outpatient addiction care.
Delaware County, PA is located in the western Philadelphia suburbs and was ranked in the top fifteen counties in the state in 2018 for drug overdose deaths according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Philadelphia Division Intelligence Program.
With the quality stamp that Recovery Centers of America brings to its healthcare, the new MAT clinic provides Delaware County patients “graduating” from RCA at Devon inpatient and outpatient treatment programs, (as well as other treatment programs), nearby, affordable access to the FDA-approved medications of methadone and suboxone. These medications are an effective tool in the toolbox of treatment for maintaining recovery from an OUD. Studies show that MAT can improve outcomes for people addicted to opioids.
“We are excited to offer MAT in Delaware County, PA. Using medication for a substance use disorder is similar to the use of medication for other chronic diseases. It helps control symptoms such as cravings which allows the person in recovery to focus on counseling and have a productive life that includes work or school and family,” said Nicole Bixler, Director of the Delaware County Healthcare Clinic. “The myth that MAT patients are substituting one drug for another is wrong and stigmatizing. Our patients are in recovery and providing affordable accessible medication to them should be encouraged in the same way as medication for other chronic diseases,” she said.
MAT utilizes FDA approved medications to treat patients with an opioid addiction. Methadone, one of the medications, changes how the brain and nervous system respond to pain. It lessens the painful symptoms of opiate withdrawal and blocks euphoric effects of opioid drugs such as heroin, morphine and codeine and semi-synthetic opiates like fentanyl, oxycodone, and hydrocodone. Methadone is offered in liquid form at the RCA site and prescribed as part of a comprehensive treatment plan that includes counseling and participation in social support programs.
Another OUD medication, Suboxone, is administered as a film that is slipped under the tongue. Suboxone contains the active ingredients buprenorphine and naloxone (also called Narcan) which minimizes cravings so that patients stay in treatment. It also has a ceiling effect for protecting from overdose.
The Delaware County Healthcare Clinic also provides detox services and treats pregnant women addicted to opioids.
Recovery Centers of America (1-800-Recovery) provides evidence-based comprehensive addiction treatment at six inpatient facilities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland. A full spectrum of outpatient treatment is also provided at many of these facilities and in Vorhees, NJ.
