Harry S Truman Memorial

They offer inpatient hospital, outpatient, telemedicine and detox. Which one fits is usually decided by how much structure the first few weeks need, and Columbia has 8 other centers within 14 miles.

They provide detox for 5 substances: alcohol, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methamphetamines and opioids. Whether a bed is free this week is a question for the call, and Columbia has 8 other centers.

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 Columbia offers both.

Older adults, plus young adults from 18 to 25 and adults from 26 to 64. Ask how the groups are arranged in Columbia, because a wide age range often still means one room.

They offer a program for veterans. Whether they bill the VA is a separate question, and the answer differs between places even inside Columbia.

They offer a telemedicine option. What that covers varies, and a first appointment in Columbia often still has to be in person.

It is the stretch after discharge, and it tends to decide whether the program holds. Where medication is part of the plan, the handover to a community prescriber is the gap to watch. Ask who to ring at two in the morning, and get the number written down.

One place can take somebody today and another in the same town is a month out. Where the wait is long, a detox can sometimes happen first and the treatment bed after it. Ask whether the wait differs for someone paying privately, because the answer is often yes.