Given a recent infectious disease outbreak among IV drug users, the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC) recognizes that they must treat infectious diseases and opioid use disorder (OUD) simultaneously for maximum efficacy. The community health center is a collection of community-based health care clinics that provide primary care to around 60,000 patients across six sites. Treatment provided is comprehensive with some of the more innovative services including:

• using an Evidence-to-Intervention grant to implement a mobile buprenorphine program intended for people who inject drugs and also living with HIV, which has shown promising treatment retention rates
• same-day appointments at the office-based addiction treatment program where primary care, pharmacy services, and support groups are co-located with the clinic
• started a program called the Bridge, in which a patient admitted to the emergency department can be inducted on OUD treatment and linked back to outpatient services at GLFHC to continue receiving medication
• all physicians treating chronic infectious diseases (e.g. HIV) are also waivered to prescribe buprenorphine
• a community-based syringe service program with naloxone distribution 

One feature that allows GLFHC to expand and integrate its services is that nearly all patients have health insurance due to healthcare reform in Massachusetts (98% of patient visits at GLFHC are reimbursed through insurance), so grants and other sources of funding are rarely used for indigent care.

GLFHC was highlighted as a model program in the consensus report here. More information on the program and outcomes can be found here. The community health center is currently part of an innovative intervention to inform and incentivize patients to participate in a medication disposal program by buying back their unused prescription opioids.