The AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (ASGCC), Community Health Center of Cape Cod (CHC of Cape Cod) and Duffy Health Center are partnering together to launch a mobile clinic to increase access to substance use disorder services in the towns of Bourne and Sandwich.
The CHART (Community Harm Reduction and Treatment) Team will provide telehealth appointments for prescribing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including same-day access to buprenorphine (Suboxone) prescriptions, along with transportation to a pharmacy to pick up the medication if needed. The mobile clinic will also provide harm reduction services, including access to overdose prevention education and naloxone (NARCAN®) distribution.
The CHART Team will offer referrals and connections to primary care providers, a recovery coach, medication to prevent HIV (PrEP and PEP), sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, sexual, reproductive and behavioral health services and housing and insurance assistance. The van will be staffed by one Harm Reduction Specialist and two Recovery Support Navigators. To find out the schedule and location of the CHART Team van, visit www.facebook.com/CHARTteam.
The goal of the CHART Team is to reduce opioid overdoses and deaths in the community by increasing access to important healthcare resources, providing recovery support services to help high-risk individuals engage and stay in substance use disorder treatment, increasing access to NARCAN®, and reducing barriers to care for people who use drugs and have a substance use disorder within the towns of Bourne and Sandwich. The Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics reports 10 fatal opioid-related overdoses among Bourne and/or Sandwich residents in 2019.
This program is part of the Bourne and Sandwich HEALing Communities Study-Massachusetts Coalition, convened by Boston Medical Center and sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
For more information on the mobile MOUD clinic’s location and hours, visit the HEALing Communities Study website for Bourne and Sandwich at www.HEALTogetherMA.org/Barnstable, or contact Dana DiSenso at ddisenso@duffyhealthcenter.org, 774-487-8449.
