The Emergency Department program at UC Health Memorial, created by Program Director Daun Gillam and our Founder Cathy Plush, is a cornerstone of our agency. Hospital staff and clinicians have personally benefited by gaining a wider understanding of what living with an SUD can be like beyond what they learned in their clinical education. They have also learned of the many paths and resources to recovery available to patients.

One clinician shared, “One of the biggest successes is – the peers have been great about educating us…The two peers that I worked with at night were so fantastic about educating us not just about addiction, but actually really educating us around some homelessness issues and around drugs of choice. They would tell us their experiences which was so fantastic for us. We learned so much from that. I think it was absolutely great.”

Emergency Department Program Certified Peer Recovery Coaches trained in the Emergency Department curriculum are dispatched to UC Health Memorial Central Emergency Department to support to patients suffering from overdose or substance use disorders. SRC supports patients after discharge with telephone recovery support, peer coaching, and resources.