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Health news and issues in the Ozarks.

New Partnership Expected to Benefit those Seeking Treatment for Addiction at CoxHealth

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The Center for Addictions at Cox is the first treatment center in Missouri to become part of the Hazeldon Betty Ford Patient Care Network.

The center’s director, Tressa Moyle, said those in the network can utilize each other for clinical resources, information, education and clinical referrals.  For instance, Hazeldon Betty Ford has five residential treatment facilities across the country.  Patients who need more care than an outpatient facility offers, can be referred to them.

All Center for Addictions patients will benefit from the partnership, according to Moyle.

"Because we are going to be able to just continually improve our knowledge base...the ability to collaborate with other providers in the network that we know meet our standards is a pretty amazing thing," she said.

Before being accepted to the network, the Center for Addictions had to go through an extensive application process followed by a site visit. 

"We really had to describe in detail how we make decisions regarding admissions in the program, discharges  from the program, when we refer to other programs, that type of thing," she said.

They also had to submit statistics concerning outcomes and also patient satisfaction surveys.

There are 18 treatment centers in the network.

The center at CoxHealth is outpatient only but offers in-patient medical detox.  According to Moyle, they treat people with all kinds of substance addiction.  But she said the majority of people seeking treatment are struggling with opiate addiction.

"The opiate crisis is huge in Missouri," said Moyle who added that, in Missouri, the number of people dying of opiate-related injuries or overdoses has surpassed the number of people dying in motor vehicle accidents.

Michele Skalicky has worked at KSMU since the station occupied the old white house at National and Grand. She enjoys working on both the announcing side and in news and has been the recipient of statewide and national awards for news reporting. She likes to tell stories that make a difference. Michele enjoys outdoor activities, including hiking, camping and leisurely kayaking.