The Gateway Foundation in Jacksonville is urging patients needing drug and alcohol rehabilitation to reach out now as they have beds available. Mindy Melton, Business Development Coordinator for Gateway, says that there are cases out there that need to come in for treatment. “I think there is a rise in people that are suffering from mental health and substance abuse issues, but I think with the stay-at-home order that it’s not been brought to light. Those individuals are still at home, maybe working from home, not having to get up and go to work every morning so their substance abuse issues went from manageable to unmanageable. They are not reaching out for help yet. I think that as they bring those people back into work and as more and more people get back to normal life that substance use is going to be brought to light, and we are going to have a rush of people coming in for treatment. Right now is a really good time to act because we do have open treatment options.”
Melton says that Gateway has been testing individuals prior to intake into their facilities. Doctors and health professionals are practicing all CDC guidelines within their facilities. Melton says they have been fortunate to not have a single case of COVID-19 come into their facilities yet. She says they have also been performing antibody tests on employees.
Melton says they have also been providing virtual counseling group services for those who aren’t in their facilities using a secure ZOOM site with groups as well as one-on-one video conferencing with counselors. “We have seen an uptick in our video conferencing services because a lot of people are apprehensive about coming into treatment right now.”
Melton says that with the stay-at-home order getting further relaxed, Gateway may experience an influx of intake at their facilities. She encourages anyone seeking substance abuse treatment to reach out to them today so they don’t have to be placed on a wait list.
You can hear the full conversation in our playlist app on this page. To get information about treatment with Gateway, call 877-505-4673 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.