Groups Recover Together offers addiction services in North Fort Myers
Opioid addiction is a nationwide problem that impacts nearly everyone — a friend or family member is struggling or, perhaps, you are struggling yourself.
In North Fort Myers, a company called Groups Recover Together, located at 3067 Tamiami Trail behind the Speedway gas station, has been working with area residents struggling with addiction and, in the nine months the organization has been here, it says it has produced some impressive results.
Seth Kaminsky, state director for the company, said they saw a lot of need for such a facility in Lee County, especially in an area with a lack of services such as North Fort Myers.
Kaminsky said the company’s mission is to increase access to quality care for people with addiction.
Groups Recover Together, a for-profit company, was founded in 2014 by a physician who noted that treatment for opioid addiction was “missing the mark,” Kaminsky said.
“It wasn’t getting the outcomes that chronic diseases need and there were limited options in terms of different approaches and models,” Kaminsky said. “Most of the models were about abstinence and not harm reduction.”
Kaminsky said the mission is to increase access to quality care for people with addiction issues.
The idea is to work with people on how they want their recovery to go and move toward recovery and keep them engaged as long as possible, because they longer they stay engaged, the better chance at success, Kaminsky said.
They use group therapy, along with medication and case management, to wrap each client up in multiple services. What they don’t do is say “once an addict, always an addict.”
“Our belief is addiction is a chronic health disorder and need to be treated the same way since recovery rates and relapse rates align with other health conditions,” Kaminsky said. “The rates are the same as those with diabetics or hypertension.”
The results?
Kaminsky said the retention and attendance rates are three times higher than the industry average, and abstinence rates are more than double. The company tries to keep members engaged for two years, though that number is fluid, depending on the member.
Kaminsky said there are some who successfully went through the program and have ended up working for the company in office management.
Since opening, they have expanded to more than 100 locations nationwide, with 10 having come to Florida in the last 12 months and seven more expected in the state by midyear.
“It’s a lot of growth, but the growth is an outcome of the need. It’s not random or throwing a dart at a map,” Kaminsky said. “We’re trying to meet that need.”
Groups Recover Together takes most private insurance, which most of their members use, as well as Medicaid, Medicare and a competitive self-pay rate.
The hours are Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to noon. They also have a 24/7 call center to schedule people for an evaluation.
For more information, call Whitney Hughson at 407-512-6411