Hampton VAMC - Mental Health SATP

They provide inpatient residential, inpatient hospital, outpatient, telemedicine and detox. The nearest alternative is in Newport News, 3.9 miles away, if you want something to compare it against.

They handle detox for opioids, alcohol, benzodiazepines, cocaine and methamphetamines. Ask how many days theirs lasts, because that varies more between places than people expect and Hampton has 8 other centers to compare.

They prescribe 2 medications: buprenorphine and naltrexone. What a provider actually stocks changes, so ask for the one you need by name before driving to Hampton.

They take court referrals, which usually means they are used to the reporting side of it. Courts in Hampton send people to places set up for it rather than to any opening.

8 other centers are within about 14 miles, the nearest of them a few streets away in Hampton.

Accreditation, staffing, medication policy and aftercare are the four that tell you most. Any place promising a specific outcome is telling you something about itself rather than about treatment. Ask every place the same four questions and compare the answers side by side.

Most medication carries on. Anything that interacts with treatment gets looked at by a prescriber first. Any medication you were prescribed by someone else is still their decision until a prescriber at the program takes it over. Write the full list with doses and prescribers before you call anyone.

Most programs build the family in, and how far they do it is a real difference between two centers. What a center can tell a family member is limited by privacy law, and that limit holds even for a parent of an adult. Ask whether family sessions carry on after the main program ends.