Alexandria VA Healthcare System - Substance Use Disorder Services (SUDS)

They provide outpatient and telemedicine. Whichever one you start at the usual pattern is to step down through the levels rather than stop at once, and Alexandria is the closest place to carry that on if you move.

They do not detox. Withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines in particular is a medical event, and the closest place set up for it is in Pineville, 2.8 miles away.

Outpatient only. Nobody stays overnight, so the week is built around appointments you travel to in Pineville.

Pineville has 7 free AA meetings as well, which is not treatment but costs nothing and needs no referral.

They prescribe buprenorphine and naltrexone. Medication and counseling together is the standard of care for opioid use rather than an either or, and not every place near Pineville offers both.

They normally continue, and a prescriber reviews the whole list rather than applying a rule to it. Any medication you were prescribed by someone else is still their decision until a prescriber at the program takes it over. Ask who to speak to if something needs changing mid program.

There is almost always a family role, and centers differ most in how early it starts. Visiting is usually restricted in the first week and opens up later. Ask what exists for a relative who is not ready to sit in a room with the person using.

The point of the call is to work out which level of care fits, which takes a handful of questions. The call can be made by a relative, and intake lines deal with that constantly. Call (844) 822-5800 and that first conversation can happen now rather than being scheduled.