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Oakland Integrated Healthcare Network Expanding Substance Use Disorders Services
(OIHN, Aug. 29, 2018)
Pontiac, MI- Oakland Integrated Healthcare Network (OIHN), the largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Oakland County, is expanding its practice to include substance use disorder treatment by offering Medication Assisted Treatment. OIHN service expansion comes after its operational site visit from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in June in which they received a perfect score for the second consecutive time.
OIHN is expanding substance use services to address the high needs seen throughout Oakland County. According to the Oakland County Automated Prescription System, almost 750,000 Opioid prescriptions were provided throughout Oakland County. This is equivalent to 6,035 prescriptions for every 10,000 residents. The cities with the highest prescription rates were Pontiac and Waterford.
OIHN’s expanded services will allow staff members to address patient needs at the time of service, rather than referring all patients in need of substance use services out to other providers. OIHN will be able to provide Medication Assisted Treatment through Buprenorphine (Suboxone) and Naltrexone (Vivitrol) for patients and will continue to refer to community providers for higher levels of treatment.
This expansion comes as the federal government is focused on addressing the Opioid epidemic. HRSA, an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services, sees community health centers as the frontline to addressing the crisis and is providing additional funding to encourage health centers to expand services.
”We are grateful for the opportunity to provide wraparound services for our patients,” Debra Brinson, OIHN’s Chief Executive Officer stated. “OIHN consistently seeks to provide comprehensive services to address all needs for our patients.”
OIHN received its operational site visit from HRSA in June as a requirement of receiving federal funding. Health centers are required to be compliant with over 19 program requirements reviewing a variety of areas such as finance, clinical, administration, and governance to continue to receive funding.
Philip Henry, OIHN’s Board Chair said “I am extremely proud of our team at OIHN for receiving two consecutive perfect scores on our federal site visits. Our employees, administration team, and board of directors are dedicated to ensuring that our patients throughout Oakland County have access to quality healthcare by skilled healthcare professionals at all of our locations.”
Receiving perfect scores in consecutive reviews requires passing stringent requirements from the federal government, especially with the release of new compliance standards in January 2018. The score continued the organization’s standard of excellence.
“Completing two federal site visits with no conditions is a testament to the strong team we have at OIHN,” Brinson stated. “OIHN was created to address unmet needs in the community and we continue to ensure that mission is at the heart of the services we provide. OIHN is excited to continue its expansion and to offer comprehensive services for patients.”
Due to OIHN receiving a perfect score on the operational site visit from HRSA, it is possible to expand services and to continue providing high-quality care to the community.
About OIHN
OIHN was incorporated in 2012 by committed community partners to increase access to care in Oakland County. Since inception, OIHN has grown to eleven sites, including six primary care sites, one dental center, and four school-based health centers, serving over 22,000 individuals.  OIHN’s mission is to provide for the health and wellness needs of all people in Oakland County, especially those that are underserved, through the provision of comprehensive and integrated primary, behavioral health and dental care.