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Pottstown – Community Health & Dental Care, Inc. (CHDC) announces it has been re-designated through the PA Department of Human Services (DHS) to continue as a Center of Excellence (COE) for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). COE’s is team-based and “whole person” focused, with the explicit goal of integrating behavioral health and primary care. Beginning as a grant funded program, COE’s moved into the Medicaid reimbursed fee-for-service payment model. In January of this year, CHDC was awarded the permanent re-designation for the COE specialty service to aid in the treatment of OUD. In 2016, CHDC was one of 45 centers, including primary care, hospitals, substance abuse treatment providers and other Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC’s), selected by Governor Tom Wolf and DHS as a Center of Excellence – one solution towards of the opioid crisis rapidly growing in Pennsylvania. The grant award enabled centers across the State to develop care management teams consisting of Licensed Clinical Social Workers, counselors, Certified Recovery Specialists, nurses, peer navigators, care managers, and physicians to provide coordinated, team-based care to individuals throughout their recovery journey. These diverse care teams of licensed and unlicensed, clinical and non-clinical staff provide comprehensive care management, care coordination, transitional/ follow-up care, patient and family support, and referrals to community/social support services. “COEs treat individuals with OUD, but it includes much more than the substance use treatment or clinical intervention,” says Derek Hammacher, MA, LPC, Director of Behavioral Heath for CHDC, “including connecting and monitoring patients to physical health treatment such as diabetes management, mental health treatment such as anxiety or depression, and coordinating care across multiple domains, including social determinant needs, job training, housing and transportation support, education services, and childcare, many more.” Hammacher goes on to say, “Our COE team does not engage in clinical substance use interventions, but rather provide case management for individuals diagnosed with OUD. We coordinate and monitor care. We are the only one in Chester, 1 of 2 in Montgomery, so COE’s are not abundant.” On Thursday, February 25th at 5 PM, the Behavioral Health team at CHDC will kick off a free, three-part educational virtual town hall series on Opioid Use Disorder. Members of the community are encouraged to attend and learn more about OUD, how to identify individuals who may have signs of dependence or addiction, and treatment plan options. To register, please visit: https://ch-dc.org/about/news-and-events/ . If you or a loved one need opioid use disorder treatment, please call the CHDC Center of Excellence at 610-326-9460 ext. 105 and a member of our friendly staff will assist you. About Community Health & Dental Care Since 2008, Community Health & Dental Care ensures access to appropriate levels of care for all people in the service area regardless of their ability to pay. CHDC has qualified, caring staff to assist you and your family to become a patient of a true medical and dental home. You can schedule a medical visit and dental visit the same day for you and your family members! CHDC provides medical, dental, OBGYN, vision, podiatry, physical therapy, medication assistance therapy (MAT), integrated behavioral health, care and case management, and free transportation to and from all CHDC health center locations in Pottstown and Barto. We accept most major Commercial, Medicare and Medicare supplement plans, Fee for Service Medicaid and Managed Care Medicaid plans and provides a health care discount for eligible uninsured and underinsured patients. For qualified patients receiving a 100% healthcare discount, the nominal fee for a medical/behavioral health/vision visit is $20, $35 for a dental visit and $5 for a prescription! CHDC can offer the health care discount because we receive annual funding from our Federal partner, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) since 2012 as a designated Federally Qualified Health Center. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact us at 610-326-9460, email us at info@ch-dc.org or visit our website at www.ch-dc.org.