CleanSlate Centers Garners Science and Service Award
NORTHAMPTON — Northampton-based CleanSlate Centers has been awarded the 2012 Science and Service Award for Office-based Opioid Treatment Programs. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced on February 17 that CleanSlate was one of five recipients of the inaugural award for innovative practice in the field of opioid-addiction treatment.
On April 21 at the 43rd annual Medical Scientific Conference of the American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM), SAMHSA will present the 2012 Science and Service Award to CleanSlate for the practice’s commitment to excellence in the treatment of individuals with opioid-related conditions. This inaugural national awards project promotes excellence in the treatment of opioid addiction by recognizing office-based opioid-treatment providers who use pharmacotherapy as part of their treatment protocol and who have demonstrated implementation of exemplary innovative services, practices, and/or strategies, resulting in improved patient outcomes.
Applications for the award were reviewed by a panel of experts in the field of addiction medicine, and each application received three independent reviews by panel members who then nominated the program or individual practitioner for the award.
SAMHSA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, established in 1992 by an act of Congress to effectively target substance abuse and mental-health services to the people most in need and to translate research in these areas more effectively and more rapidly into the general health care system. Over the years, SAMHSA has demonstrated, in its own words, that “prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover from mental and substance use disorders.”
CleanSlate Centers is a collection of outpatient addiction-treatment centers that specializes in the treatment of opioid dependence with medical management utilizing buprenorphine (Suboxone) and naltrexone (Vivitrol). CleanSlate has locations in Greenfield, West Springfield, and New Bedford, and will open in Holyoke in April.