(Glendale Heights, Illinois) – Seeking to address a growing community need for addiction services, UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks has launched a medically assisted detox program for people dealing with drug or alcohol abuse.
Addiction recovery patients must be medically clear of drugs and alcohol before they can benefit from rehabilitation, and the new GlenOaks program helps them through the detox process by admitting them to the hospital, administering anti-craving medications, and treating other medical conditions they might have.
After patients are stabilized and before they are discharged, the program’s specially trained staff helps them connect with rehabilitation providers and other care and support they will need on their journey toward recovery, said Deb Ayanian, chief nursing officer at GlenOaks. “We are an ideal place for patients to come for the beginning phase of recovery, because we can treat their detox and medical needs and provide the expert guidance they need to continue their recovery,” Ayanian said.
GlenOaks Medical Director Rajeswar Rajagopalan, M.D., oversees the detox program. He is board-certified in internal medicine, with a clinical specialty in addiction medicine. He and Ayanian previously worked together for many years at another health system, where they led the development of a multifaceted addiction treatment program.
Rajagopalan joined GlenOaks this past June, and he and Ayanian, who arrived at the hospital in 2023, soon launched the detox program to address the growing need for addiction services in the hospital’s west suburban service area. The hospital conducts an extensive community health needs assessment every three years, and the latest assessment in 2022 identified such services as one of the area’s top health needs.
“Alcohol addiction is the number one issue we see, followed by addiction to opioids, especially fentanyl, and addiction to sedative hypnotics such as Xanax and other benzodiazepines,” Rajagopalan said. Addiction to cocaine and amphetamines also is common, and addiction to so-called “designer drugs,” such as kratom, ecstasy and molly, is a growing issue, he said.
People with addictions often come to the hospital’s emergency room for detox and/or treatment of medical conditions caused or aggravated by drug or alcohol abuse. Alcoholics, for example, often suffer from gastritis caused by heavy drinking. In the past, after these patients dried out and were stabilized in the ER, they often were discharged.
With the new detox program in place, “we now can admit addiction patients coming into our ER whom we might not have admitted before, and we can get them on the road to recovery,” Ayanian said. “Because we’re an acute-care hospital, we also can help patients with other medical needs, such as hypertension, diabetes or an infection, without transferring them elsewhere. That’s a differentiator for us, because not every place with a detox program can do that. We take care of the whole person.”
Added Rajagopalan, “We have all the consultants – the cardiologist, gastroenterologist, nephrologist, whoever the patient needs, which is a huge, positive thing. We also have our ER, operating rooms and ICU, so it works out really well.” In the case of an alcoholic with gastritis, “we can call gastroenterology, and if an endoscopy is required, it can be done in our endoscopy suite,” he said.
Rajagopalan and his team also can use medications to address withdrawal symptoms that can occur during detox. Alcoholics, for example, can experience delirium and rapid fluctuations in their pulse and blood pressure, which can be life-threatening. Opioid addicts can experience severe anxiety, headaches, body aches, nausea and diarrhea. “Alcohol and drug withdrawal can be hard on the body, and the reason our program is having success is that Dr. Rajagopalan understands what medications people need to have a safe and comfortable detox,” Ayanian said.
By mid-December, more than 90 patients had benefited from the detox program, which follows addiction-treatment best practices and protocols developed by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Board of Preventive Medicine. The program accepts most health insurance, including Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care.
Rajagopalan and Ayanian view the program as the first step toward building a continuum of addiction treatment services at GlenOaks, including residential rehabilitation. They encourage people to ask a number of questions to determine whether they or a loved one need help to manage a substance use disorder. Some of those questions include: Have you or your loved one tried to cut down or stop using substances but failed? Do you or your loved one spend a lot of time obtaining and using substances or recovering from their effects? Has substance use interfered with work, school or home responsibilities? “If you answer yes to any of these questions, it may be time to seek help,” Ayanian said. “Acknowledging the problem is the first step toward recovery. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help.”
For a complete list of such questions and to learn more about the medically assisted detox program, please call Dru Lazzara, regional director of behavioral health for UChicago Medicine AdventHealth, at 630-865-6331.
