National Addiction Treatment Leader Expands Services to All Californians

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., May 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is bringing addiction treatment as well as mental health and family services to Californians wherever they may be—including to those at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic—with its RecoveryGo™ telehealth solutions, which are now available to anyone living in the state.

"At the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, we are confronting two very serious illnesses: COVID-19, which we need to keep out of our doors; and addiction, which we need to help patients overcome. Virtual addiction treatment helps on both fronts," said Hazelden Betty Ford President and CEO Mark Mishek. "After several months of piloting and planning a major launch of virtual outpatient addiction treatment services, we were able to quickly accelerate and expand our plans to help more people. Now, we're not just providing addiction treatment via telehealth but also mental health and family services."

"Thanks to many new safeguards at the Betty Ford Center residential campus in Rancho Mirage, we continue to serve a lot of people here," added Hazelden Betty Ford Regional Vice President Chris Yadron, PhD, who is the administrator of the Betty Ford Center. "But for Californians who can't make it to the Coachella Valley or to our outpatient clinics in Los Angeles and San Diego, we have new options that don't even require leaving the house. After almost 40 years of providing care in southern California, we're excited to be able to reach people, families and communities throughout the state—especially now, as substance use and mental health concerns soar amid the pandemic."

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a national nonprofit that treats more than 25,000 people annually at its 15 clinical sites, including three in California. It serves thousands more who are in recovery from substance use and mental health disorders and is a leading provider of education and training for professionals who provide such care, as well as prevention services. Long a provider of telehealth solutions, Hazelden Betty Ford began piloting virtual outpatient treatment services last summer and quickly sped up and expanded its plans when the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) hit. At the same time, it took robust steps to reduce the risks for patients at residential sites like the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage and quickly connected patients and community members to free support resources, including 24 Hours a Day and other mobile apps for which the organization has removed the cost at this time.

"By leveraging our existing telehealth solutions, highlighting free community-based online resources, and aggressively implementing new virtual services to complement our on-site care, we have been able to continue meeting the urgent needs of the people we serve, and are admitting new patients every day in a number of different settings and levels of care," Yadron said.

The new virtual outpatient addiction treatment and mental health services are available throughout California and several other states. They were designed to replicate Hazelden Betty Ford's on-site patient care experience, combining group therapy and individual counseling sessions via legally compliant video technology encrypted for security, with wraparound telehealth services as well. In addition, Hazelden Betty Ford now offers a new one-day virtual family program that is available to anyone anywhere.

"As we provide more opportunities for quality treatment to individuals and families affected by opioid addiction and other substance use disorders, we'll be able to bring hope and healing to now-socially-distanced urban areas throughout California, to underserved rural populations and to everywhere in between," Yadron said.

Hazelden Betty Ford's RecoveryGo telehealth solutions include:

• Virtual outpatient addiction treatment: These insurance-eligible services, originally piloted by Hazelden Betty Ford's clinicians in San Diego, are currently available in California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Florida. Hazelden Betty Ford plans to expand availability to all 50 states by year's end.
• Mental healthcare: More often than not, substance use disorders are accompanied by co-occurring mental health conditions, and treating both at the same time improves recovery outcomes. Virtual mental health services are also available to people who are not receiving addiction treatment.
• Online health portal: My Recovery Compass includes access to MORE (My Ongoing Recovery Experience), a web- and phone-based system of recovery support provided by licensed clinicians. It also includes brief, research-based questionnaires to help clinicians better understand a patient's progress so they can guide the course of care—also known as Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT).
• Family services: In addition to its new one-day virtual group program for people whose loved one is struggling with or recovering from addiction, Hazelden Betty Ford offers Connection^TM for Families, a convenient, phone-based recovery coaching program for anyone whose emotional, physical or spiritual health has been compromised by a loved one's addiction.
• Recovery support services: Hazelden Betty Ford's Connection^TM program provides clinical support in early recovery to improve long-term outcomes, and its mobile apps and online recovery communities support people throughout the recovery journey

See www.RecoveryGo.org or call 1-800-I-DO-CARE for more details and resources.

About the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. As the nation's leading nonprofit provider of comprehensive inpatient and outpatient addiction and co-occurring mental health treatment for adults and youth, the Foundation has 17 locations nationwide, with expansive face-to-face and telehealth solutions and a network of collaborators throughout health care. With a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center, the Foundation today also encompasses a graduate school of addiction studies, a publishing division, an addiction research center, recovery advocacy and thought leadership, professional and medical education programs, school-based prevention resources and a specialized program for children who grow up in families with addiction. Learn more at www.HazeldenBettyFord.org and on Twitter @hazldnbettyford. 

SOURCE Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Related Links

https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/