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Southwest Behavioral Health outlines clinic-based opioid treatment, naloxone distribution and recovery supports
Summary
Laurie Moles, program coordinator for Southwest Behavioral and Health Services, told the Mohave County Board of Health that her agency runs a clinic-based opioid replacement program that combines medication with case management, vocational referrals and harm‑reduction supplies.
Laurie Moles, program coordinator for Southwest Behavioral and Health Services, told the Mohave County Board of Health that her agency runs a clinic-based opioid replacement program in Bullhead City and a 10‑bed residential facility, Marina Point, and emphasizes treatment and social supports rather than “dose and go.”
Moles said the clinic prescribes methadone, Vivitrol (monthly injection), Suboxone and Subutex and requires a minimum of one hour of case management per month for clients. “What we’re looking to do there is to not only reduce harm to the person that walks into our clinic, but we wanna reduce harm overall to our communities,” she said.
The program reported a set of measurable activities from its opioid settlement grant period: 51 participants were referred into Vocational Rehabilitation services; staff helped 20 of 53 otherwise uninsured or inaccessible members enroll in Medicaid; the clinic provided 551 boxes of naloxone, 129 fentanyl test strips and 75 xylazine test strips for community distribution; and 31 people completed a certified peer support training program.
Moles described a 14‑day goal for linking qualifying new clients to Medicaid and said the clinic provides transportation when needed, including two clinic vehicles for appointments. She said the program also employs people who received services and runs an intake process that includes a biopsychosocial assessment.
Christian Toman, a licensed clinical social worker at Southwest, described a client case example in which staff connected a person to insurance, food assistance, primary care and transportation and worked toward a plan to taper methadone. “My job is to put myself out of a job,” Toman said when describing his treatment goal: helping clients become self-sustaining and exit treatment when clinically appropriate.
On tapering, Moles said the clinic does plan and support safe methadone tapers when clinically appropriate and provided two recent examples of clients who successfully tapered off methadone and moved into employment. She added that the clinic sets dosing practices intended to avoid unnecessarily high methadone doses that would make tapering difficult.
The presentation was informational; the board did not take formal action on this item.
Ending: Board members thanked the presenters and moved on to other agenda items.
