Thursday, September 20, 2018

XChange Clinic to Hold Informational Open House

GREENVILLE, Ohio (Sept. 18, 2018) -- Family Health of Darke County will host an informational open house at 5735 Meeker Drive, Greenville, on Tuesday, Sept. 25 from 5:30-7 p.m. to provide information about the XChange Clinic slated to open in October.

The event will be an open house-style meeting and will include table exhibits, handouts and access to expert resources on the topics of needle exchange, behavioral health, infectious disease, and health and safety protocols. The community is encouraged to drop in any time during the open house hours. There will not be a formal program.

"This is an opportunity for the public to come and meet the partners who will make the one-to-one needle exchange a safe and effective method of addressing drug addiction in our community,” said Dr. Anna Hatic, addiction medicine specialist for Family Health. "It's understandable that some have concerns when they hear about a program like this, and we will be able to address all of those and help shed light on how this actually protects the public and provides an opportunity to help individuals in our community if they're struggling with addiction."

The XChange Clinic will be open the second and fourth Fridays of each month starting in October at Family Health, 5735 Meeker Drive and will be co-located with the Dental Clinic which is closed on Fridays. On those days, people will be able to exchange a used needle for a clean, retractable one without the fear of prosecution. The concept actually reduces harm to the drug user by not only providing them with a clean needle, but access to many resources in the community, such as counseling, treatment, recovery and education. In addition, the program protects the public by reducing unintentional needle sticks, which can result in infectious diseases such as Hepatitis and HIV.

"This is an increased opportunity to offer treatment services while addressing safety and health concerns," said Mark McDaniel, Executive Director of Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services. “Many of these individuals would not ordinarily come in contact with medical professionals but this program initiates that interaction."

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