Project RIDE is testing out a new way to engage people who are ready to enter treatment for opioid addiction; operating out of a mobile center parked on Broad and Passayunk in South Philadelphia.
Project RIDE (Rapid Initiation of Drug treatment Engagement), launched in July, and aims to get people who need it started on buprenorphine, an opioid-based medication that helps ease withdrawal and curb cravings. Such medication-assisted treatment has been shown in studies to result in more durable recovery than abstinence alone.
You do not need insurance to participate. If you are eligible, RIDE will provide you with medication and counseling for up to 30 days or until you get into a treatment program.
The van parks at Broad Street and Passyunk Avenue on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and provides free treatment for 30 days, or until patients enter a longer-term treatment program.
The staff has helped connect others who don’t want buprenorphine, or can’t take it, to other services or treatment programs, and offers testing for HIV and hepatitis C — both common perils for injection drug users. The van also stocks naloxone, the overdose-reversing drug credited for much of the decline some areas have seen in drug fatalities. The nurse practitioner, the case manager, and the peer recovery specialist who work on the van can have a patient’s first dose of buprenorphine delivered within a day, sometimes even earlier.
Location: Mobile Research Unit Parked at Broad & Passyunk
Hours: Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8am to 3pm
Contact: David Metzger for more details
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