The University of Utah Health in Utah, US, has opened its latest Substance Use & Pregnancy—Recovery, Addiction, and Dependence (SUPeRAD) Clinic, which aims to extend care services to pregnant individuals with substance use disorders.
Located at the Population Health Center near Rose Park, Utah, the clinic combines maternal-foetal medicine with addiction treatment, recovery support and social work.
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Its services include integrated prenatal care, mental health and addiction treatment, peer recovery support, education on neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, specialised consultations, and coordinated care with other treatment providers.
By expanding into the Rose Park and West Valley areas, the SUPeRAD Clinic programme intends to serve more families.
SUPeRAD Clinic medical director Marcela Smid said: “This new clinic is a vital extension of our mission to provide compassionate, evidence-based care to mothers and families facing the dual challenges of substance use disorder and pregnancy.
“We believe that meeting patients where they are literally and figuratively empowers them to feel safe engaging in care, which leads to improved health outcomes.”
Since its launch in 2017, the SUPeRAD programme has assisted more than 1,300 pairs of mothers and babies.
The clinic’s integrated care model has led to an increased uptake of medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, shorter neonatal hospital stays, reduced reliance on neonatal intensive care, and improved postpartum care.
These advancements have also reportedly caused a decrease in Medicaid costs.
Last year, the Utah State Legislature allocated $360,000 in start-up funds to bolster the programme’s efforts to provide integrated, perinatal addiction care.
Earlier this month, the University of Utah was awarded a $75m donation from the George S and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation.
The university will use this funding to build a hospital and medical campus as part of a broader $855m initiative.
Covering an area of 800,000ft², the campus will feature a 90-bed hospital and multi-speciality outpatient clinics.
