Ansonia, CT. — The most advanced medical services and treatment for substance disorders, including opioid addiction, are now available to the residents of Lower Naugatuck Valley ― a community hard-hit by Connecticut’s opioid crisis ― at the Cornell-Scott - Hill Health Center’s new Methadone Clinic at 121 Wakelee Avenue. 

The clinic, which opened its doors on January 6, offers primary, oral and preventive health care services. The methadone and suboxone maintenance program, known as Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), provides an extensive range of individualized medical services including behavioral and social counseling. The clinic uses a health system approach that focuses on each patient as a person and not just their disorder or illness. Research over the last several decades such as studies conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that this integrative model of care is highly effective not only in treating opioid use disorders but also in preventing and reducing substance use and deaths from overdoses.

“Our standing as a Federally Qualified Community Health Center (FQHC) enables us to make the highest level of care accessible to all the members of our community regardless of their economic or ethnic background,” Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center CEO Michael R. Taylor stated. “Moreover, we are extremely proud of the fact that our practitioners represent some of the best and the brightest not just in our state, but also in the country,” he said, attributing the clinic’s state-of-the-art care and treatment to the caliber of the staff. All of the providers at the clinic are licensed professionals with advanced degrees in their field, he said.   

Ben Metcalf, a licensed clinical social worker who is the Program Director of CS-HHC’s South Central Rehabilitation Center (SCRC), said, “Combining the best of all the evidence-based practices enables us to come up with cutting-edge outcomes for a patient.” Commenting on the lingering stigma of addiction, he said, “Substance disorders are neurological, not moral issues and science shows medication and therapy help the brain heal.”

The focus of the clinic is to treat the whole person and help him or her reach their life goals, he said. In addition to psychiatric and a range of behavioral and mental health services, medical, dental, blood draw and recovery coaching services are also available onsite. The clinic is open Monday through Saturday from 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Referrals and walk-ins are accepted. Patients are seen right away by a medical doctor and a therapist. Patients can be admitted into care and treated on the same day.

For more information on the Health Center, please visit: http://www.cornellscott.org.

The Cornell Scott – Hill Health Center is the oldest and among the largest community health centers in Connecticut. The center provides integrated medical and behavioral health solutions throughout the greater New Haven area and the Naugatuck Valley with the goal of improving the health status of patients and the community at large. The Cornell Scott – Hill Health Center has been a leader in community healthcare innovation for over 40 years. Learn more at www.cornellscott.org.