'Closes a gap': New Chatham-Kent addictions clinic offers treatment without appointments, referrals

Chatham-Kent's new Rapid Access to Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinic will allow patients to connect with treatment and support options without the need for a physician's referral.

The RAAM clinic formally opened following a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday.

According to Lori Marshall, president and CEO of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, the new facility "closes a gap … in part to addictions services and treatment in the Chatham-Kent area."

Marshall said Chatham-Kent officials previously noted patients with addictions and substance use concerns increasingly relied on emergency department visits to seek treatment. 

She said the emergency room "definitely is not the best place for those kinds of things to be seen."

With the new clinic, patients will be able to receive "rapid treatment," as well as connections to other services in the community that will be able to support patients.

The clinic's services include brief counselling and support, naloxone kits, as well as physical health assessments.

"This is about treatment, so it's addictions, counsellors [and] psychiatrists," said Marshall, adding that the RAAM clinic is a short-term solution. 

"The intent is to connect people up with the services that they need to help better manage their substance use and reduce it in the long term."

Marshall expects the clinic will be able to help approximately 100 patients per year, largely due to the fact that the clinic only has enough funding to operate between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

"The hope is that in the long term we'll be able to leverage more of our relationships with other healthcare partners so that we can actually help to support people closer to where they live," she said.