CVS gives local hospital proverbial $200K shot in the arm

Money to be used to help launch new outpatient program

EAST PROVIDENCE — With a $200,000 assist from Woonsocket-based CVS Health, Bradley Children’s Hospital is poised to launch a new outpatient program to provide care for teenagers simultaneously struggling with drug abuse and psychiatric issues.

“We certainly have identified the need,” said Dr. Selby Conrad, Bradley Hospital’s director of treatment for co-occurring disorders. “I think there’s been a big push in Rhode Island, given the high rates of substance abuse, to create clinics such as this and there are certainly some individual providers, but there

hasn’t been perhaps as much attention as needed.”

The yet-to-be-named program is expected to begin in March.

Daniel J. Wall, president of Bradley Hospital, said as many as 80 percent of youths with a substance abuse problem also have a psychiatric issue. He said the most effective treatment for these youngsters is to address both maladies simultaneously.

The new initiative will complement Bradley’s recently developed programs for intensive, residential treatment of youth with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Together, the programs deliver a comprehensive, effective, and accessible continuum of care, Wall said.

“Rates of substance use and addiction among Rhode Islanders exceed national averages across all age groups, including adolescents,” said Wall. “We applaud CVS Health for their commitment to this community health crisis, and could not be more grateful for their generous funding that will launch our outpatient program.”

The program will offer structured treatment sessions every weekday after school, allowing patients to receive the level of care they need while enabling them to return home at night and on the weekends. Staffing will include psychologists, a social worker and a psychiatrist, who will provide individual, group and family therapy, as well as medication management as necessary.

Conrad said that youths in need of treatment for co-occurring drug and psychiatric issues are typically 13-19 years old. They might suffer from severe anxiety, depression or have a history of family-related trauma. Often, they’re abusing marijuana, alcohol, or prescription painkillers.

On their own, psychiatric issues and substance abuse can be daunting problems for children. Mix them together and it’s a recipe for disaster, potentially causing long-lasting, intractable problems.

“It’s quite a struggle for them,” she says. “It impacts family functioning, school functioning. It impacts social life.”

Bradley Hospital has long been offering treatment of co-occurring substance abuse and psychological issues, but the CVS Health grant provides the facility with the opportunity to formalize the program.

“The grant is really allowing us to formalize the clinic in a way that allow us to be like a call-in where people can ask for these services,” she said. “It means a lot to somebody who’s been doing this for a long time for CVS Health to recognize the need. Providing funding for that is huge, so ‘thank you’ to them.”

CVS Health said the grant is part of the corporation’s Building Healthier Communities initiative.

“We believe good health starts at the community level, and the work that Bradley Hospital is doing to help youth with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders is vital to building a healthier community,” said Eileen Howard Boone, CVS health’s senior vice president for corporate social responsibility and philanthropy.

“By helping to identify and treat these disorders with early intervention, we are helping to address and urgent need in Rhode Island, and look forward to working with Bradley Hospital to help fulfill its program’s mission,” she said.

CVS Health’s Building Healthier Communities initiative is a $100 million, fiveyear commitment to make community health and wellness central to the company’s “charge for a better world” following its acquisition of Aetna, Boone said. In addition to this grant, CVS Health supports Bradley Hospital and its Lifespan partners with approximately $100,000 each year through sponsorships, product donations, grants and volunteerism.

“Rates of substance use and addiction among Rhode Islanders exceed national averages across all age groups, including adolescents. We applaud CVS Health for their commitment to this community health crisis, and could not be more grateful for their generous funding that will launch our outpatient program.” —Bradley Hospital President Daniel J. Wall