Examining Co-occurring Mental and Substance Use Disorders – A 3-Part Series
Part 1: The Challenge of Mental Illness in Substance Abuse Treatment This is the first of three blogs to examine co-occurring mental and substance use disorders. In this first blog, we review the prevalence of mental disorders among persons in addiction treatment, myths related to mental illness, key problems and challenges, and how to ...
Spectrum Experts Make a Case for Medication-Assisted Treatment in Prisons at Recent Corrections Conference
Earlier this month, our Vice President of Clinical Development Dr. Romas Buivydas and State Director of MA Correctional Services Earl Warren teamed up to present to attendees of the American Correctional Association’s winter conference about the importance of adopting medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in America’s prisons. It’s a hotly debated topic across the country and in ...
Life Expectancy for Americans Decreased for Second Straight Year, Due to the Opioid Epidemic
The Centers for Disease Control recently released a shocking report about the decline in American life expectancy, a rate they haven’t seen since influenza ran rampant in 1962 and 1963, and during the worst of the AIDS epidemic back in 1993. In 2016, the CDC saw a staggering 21 percent death rate fueled by the ...
Get to Know Lisa Blanchard, Spectrum’s New Vice President of Clinical Services
At Spectrum Health Systems, we put great confidence in our employees. Through various educational initiatives and a supportive company culture, we’ve cultivated a talent pool of which we’re very proud. Lisa Blanchard is a shining example of growth within Spectrum, and we’re thrilled to announce her promotion to Vice President of Clinical Services. Did you ...
Spectrum Health Systems on New England Cable News
You may have seen that opioid deaths are down in Massachusetts. It’s great news, but it’s not the whole story. To date, more than 1,400 residents have passed away from overdoses in 2017 and that’s still a very large number. Following the announcement of Governor Charlie Baker’s new plan to continue reducing overdose deaths, our ...
Project Turnabout Honored with Award from Association of Behavioral Health
On Friday, October 20th, the Spectrum Health Systems team traveled to Boston for an exciting event – the annual Association of Behavioral Health (ABH) Salute to Excellence ceremony. This year, one of our residential treatment programs, Project Turnabout, won the “Excellence in Best Practices” award. As a long-time provider of addiction treatment dedicated to providing ...
