La Clinica has emerged as the community’s largest primary care provider of medication-assisted treatment for people dependent on opioids.
The organization now employs 14 healthcare providers who hold the federal waiver that allows them to prescribe the drug buprenorphine, a medication that can treat addiction by curbing withdrawal symptoms. La Clinica providers worked to help 180 patients using the drug in 2018, up from a couple dozen five years earlier, and have already served 191 this year.
The change comes as the nation struggles with an opioid crisis that claimed an estimated 47,000 lives in 2017, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. More than 350 people
died of opioid overdoses in Oregon that year, and many more struggle with addiction.
“We are addressing a need we saw for patients in our community,” said Chief Medical Officer Justin Adams. “This is one more way that we can provide the care that our patients’ need to live their healthiest lives.”
How it works
La Clinica pairs medication-assisted treatment in a primary care setting with group visits focused on recovery and resiliency.
Patients have access to wellness coaches, behavioral health clinicians, and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners. Community partners provide additional support.