For One Rural Community, Fighting Addiction Started With Recruiting The Right Doctor
“Many rural communities lack basic resources for substance abuse. There are fewer services available than in urban areas—as many as 82 percent of rural Americans may live in counties that lack detoxification services, for example. But Bunker was lucky. She found a community health center only about an hour from her home that recently expanded its addiction treatment services. The clinic, NorthLakes Community Clinic, serves Medicaid and Medicare patients, and offers sliding scale payments for those with low-income. It expanded its addiction recovery program with the help of state and federal grants targeting opioid use. Though rural communities across the country struggle with addiction, community health centers like this one are modeling an approach to managing — and funding — treatment programs.”