Care New England Kent Hospital - AnchorED
What is it?
The Providence Center, in collaboration with the state, provides on-call certified recovery coaches every weekend for patients in hospital emergency departments (EDs) across Rhode Island with high rates of accidental opioid overdose. The program was launched by Care New England Health System at Kent Hospital in June 2014 and is expanding to other hospital EDs in the state.
Who is it for?
Opioid users and their families
Why do they do it?
Deaths from drug overdose have rising steadily over the past two decades and have become the leading cause of injury death in the nation, exceeding those from automobile accidents. Rhode Island has seen a dramatic increase in these deaths over the past few years.
Impact
While the program is relatively new, it is expected to provide a critical support mechanism to those most at risk through one-on-one interaction, education and counseling beginning from the time they are first seen in the ED.
Contact: Jim Beardsworth
Director, Marketing & Public Relations
Telephone: 401-737-7010, ext. 31395
Email: jbeardsworth@kentri.org