New York Times Magazine: Substance use disorder treatment at the AHS Bridge Clinic

At The AHS Bridge Clinic on The Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus, patients receive treatment for substance use disorder such as buprenorphine, a drug that has been shown to be highly effective at treating opioid addiction.

“Merely starting people on buprenorphine, research suggests, can cut their chances of dying from overdose by between 50 and 80 percent, compared with patients receiving talk therapy and other nondrug interventions,” reports Moises Velasquez-Manoff, contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine.

Pictured: Dr. Monish Ullal, a physician at Alameda Health System, treating a patient at The AHS Bridge Clinic. Photo Credit: Philip Cheung for The New York Times.

“This is why I became a doctor,” says Dr. Andrew Herring. “It really does feel like a restoration of health.”

Pictured: Dr. Andrew Herring, chair of the division of addiction medicine at Alameda Health System. Photo Credit: Philip Cheung for The New York Times.

Patients who receive buprenorphine can compliment their medical treatment with behavioral health counseling at Alameda Health System’s Road to Recovery program.

“It is really difficult for me to do my job as a therapist without medication so that folks are not in withdrawal or having cravings,” says Jasmin Canfield, manager of substance use disorder treatment at Alameda Health System. (Not pictured.)

Pictured: Janet M. Monks, LMFT, rehabilitation counselor at Alameda Health System’s Road to Recovery program. Photo Credit: Philip Cheung for The New York Times.