VANDALIA — North Dayton Addiction & Recovery, a private outpatient office specializing in Opiate Abuse Disorder in Vandalia, opened last January.

According to Manager Stevie Duncan, of Vandalia, all addiction facilities are not created equal.

“It makes all the difference in the world when you have people around who not only understand, but are compassionate and want to help,” she said. “We have an office that does everything the way it is supposed to be done.”

North Dayton Addiction & Recovery offers physician supervised drug treatment programs for people suffering from opiate and heroin addiction, and alcohol dependence. All patients are first referred to counseling, she said, to adequately assess them for success in long-term recovery. Some of the services include the following options.

The Bridge Device is a neuro-stimulator that assists with the pain and discomfort of opiate withdrawal. It costs about $600 and works for five days, Duncan said.

“We use this at the peak of patients’ withdrawal and detox, to get them safely on Vivitrol,” she said.

Another service is Vivitrol. Before a patient can receive the first injection of Vivitrol, patients must be through the detox process, typically 7-10 days, after their last opiate use. It is known as an “antagonist” medication; it blocks, or eliminates cravings for opiates.

Suboxone Maintainence is also offered. It is composed of two different medications: Buprenorphine and Naloxone. When challenged about giving drugs to combat drug addiction, Duncan said people misunderstand the difference between being addicted and being dependant.

“Recovery works different for a lot of people,” she said. “What matters at the end of the day is that these people aren’t addicted anymore. They may be dependant, but out of harm’s way.”

North Dayton Addiction & Recovery’s Director and Founder Doctor Paul W. Kolodzik is board-certified in emergency and addiction medicine, with 20 years of clinical experience in this area, he said.

“My interest in addiction medicine began from seeing the impact of drugs on individuals, families and communities,” he said. “After seeing many, many overdoses I want to be proactive, in terms of treating people before they reach that point, which is more effective and fulfilling. That is what we have done with North Dayton Addiction & Recovery.”

“I have worked in a lot of small communities, like Greenville, that have been especially hard hit,” he added. “The goal of our practice is to get people reintegrated with their family, allowing them to have time to work and to take care of their children. If they do well in our program, that means they meet all of our appointments and follow the rules of our counseling, they can have a job, and only come see us once every two weeks to a month. The flip side of that is if they are having difficulty in terms of drug screens not going well, or undocumented counseling, then we have to see them more frequently.”

According to Duncan, North Dayton Addiction & Recovery has more than 100 patients that are active, and 99 percent are doing OK, she said.

“Treatment works as long as you stick with the program,” she said. “Every patient that walks through here; there is hope for them. Short-term goals are easier, as it is a lot easier to stay clean for the rest of the day, which can turn into the rest of the week. This allows people to remain hopeful, even if they get off track. Because they have known the feeling of recovery, they know they can get back there.”

“There are a lot of organizations that provide in-patient treatment,” Kolodzik added. “What happens with that is, people go in and then go out to the world, with the temptations and the stresses of a normal life. Our philosophy is that we want to work with people to manage that, and bumper themselves against those stressors on an outpatient setting. We hear stories about people who spent a bunch of money on an inpatient stay, and they relapse. We feel it is a better approach to help people along with those life stressors, so they can be successful long term.”

To contact North Dayton Addiction & Recovery for help, call or text 24/7, (937) 365-HELP. For more information, visit northdaytonaddiction.com

EDS NOTE: This story is part of an ongoing series titled “Fatal Addiction” that will address the drug problem and effects on residents and resources in Darke County.