Chesapeake Regional to Announce New Protocol to Combat Opioid Use Disorder

CHESAPEAKE – Chesapeake Regional Healthcare will announce a new program and protocol to help patients combat Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) during a press conference to be held on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, at 11a.m. The announcement will take place in the Lifestyle Health & Fitness Center, located at 800 Battlefield Blvd., North, on the Chesapeake Regional Medical Center campus.

To address the growing need, the PROUD (Prevention and Recovery from Opioid Use Disorder) program aims to help people with an unhealthy dependence on opioids, including heroin, fentanyl and prescription pain killers. Because traditional detox and recovery methods do not work for most people who try to overcome this type of addiction, the PROUD program will introduce a protocol for more effective recovery.  
Chesapeake Regional is the first in the Hampton Roads region and only the second in the state to begin managing patients with OUD offering a protocol that uses Medication-Assisted Treatment to help users stay clean longer and break the cycle of addition. Patients in the Emergency Department are treated with Buprenorphine and given a short-term prescription of Naloxone (Suboxone). Prior to discharge, an appointment with a partnering community addiction recovery provider is arranged. To best serve patients, Chesapeake Regional is working with several community partners to provide follow up counseling services.

Members of the media are invited to attend the PROUD program announcement, where representatives from Chesapeake Regional’s Emergency Department and Behavioral Health Services will explain the program with more detail. Community Partner representatives will also be available. Interviews can be arranged. Please contact Tricia Hardy by calling 757-312-6873 (office), 757-408-2681 (cell) or emailing at Tricia.Hardy@ChesapeakeRegional.com if you plan to attend.

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