According to a recent study, the city of Philadelphia had over 900 drug overdoses in the year 2016. Over 80% of those were from opioids such as heroin or fentanyl. The number of deaths involving fentanyl had increased by over 100% in one year going from 184 deaths to 413. The study reflected that heroin and benzodiazepine related deaths had also reached their highest numbers at approximately 400 deaths each. These numbers had all increased since 2015. The department of public safety is working with the Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic to help prevent opioid addiction and help people who are dependent on these drugs to get the treatment that they need.
Philadelphia Addiction Center
One of the highest rated treatment facilities in Philadelphia is the Philadelphia Addiction Center. It is led by Dr. Victor Tsan. Dr. Tsan was born in the Soviet Union in 1955 and when he was 15 years old started studying at the State University of Medicine and graduated 5 years later.
He has studied Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, and Neuro-linguistic Programming. This facility also has Eric Goldburd at its disposal. Mr. Goldburd is an acupuncturist who started his medical career as an Emergency Medical Technician in New Jersey. He studied Psychology at Rutgers University and then received a Bachelors and Masters degree in Acupuncture at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. All the clients at this facility undergo an evaluation from the staff and based on this evaluation are administered treatment. Treatment usually involves hypnosis or medication. Most of the reviews for this facility have been extremely positive.
Fairmount Behavioral Health Systems
Fairmount Behavioral Health Systems is located on a 27-acre wooded campus that borders Fairmount Park in the Roxborough Section of Philadelphia. It boasts one of the leading alcohol and drug detox and rehab programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This facility appears to strive for customer service, with a Service Excellence Council that brings together professional staff from every area of the hospital and multiple authority levels.
Interim House, Inc.
Interim House, Inc., located in Mount Airy, Philadelphia provides continuum of comprehensive services to women with substance abuse and mental health issues. It was the first specialized treatment program for women in Pennsylvania and one of the first in the nation.
Belmont Behavioral Hospital
Another facility in Philadelphia that could help with drug addiction is the Belmont Behavioral Hospital. This treatment center is for people of all ages who are suffering from different behavioral problems including anything from drug addiction to eating disorders. Normally, there is a thorough medical assessment that also goes over a patient’s psychiatric and drug use history. For those people with substance abuse issues, there is a dual diagnosis. The reason for this is that people oftentimes use drugs to combat the symptoms of mental illness and in other cases their use of drugs have caused them to develop mental illnesses. There is an Intensive Outpatient Program that is group-based specifically for people who are combating addiction. However, a private addiction treatment directory run by Recovery.org has some negative reviews posted for people who claim to be former patients. Some reviews indicated that the facility was not clean or up to date, although it is notable that there is a replacement facility scheduled to be constructed by late 2019. For me, the most astounding thing that I saw was the fact that they specialize in Electroconvulsive Therapy.
Philadelphia Overdose Rate
Philadelphia has the second highest rates in the country for drug overdose deaths in cities with over a million people. They need more help than the city seems to be able to provide. Philadelphia Mayor Kenney announced a $20 million investment in the opioid crisis in the City during his budget address in March 2018. The increased investment is a part of the City’s Five-Year plan, which seeks to prevent the growth of the crisis, providing more treatment options, as well as keeping neighborhoods safe, clean, and accessible.
FROM LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD
