A new specialist doctor’s office focused on treating addictions is one of the first goals to stem the opioid epidemic in Bartholomew County.

That was one of the goals outlined last night at the six-month community update from the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County.

ASAP in BC is unveiling new initiatives and priorities to fill in the gaps in the drug prevention and treatment process in Bartholomew County. Speakers at the event last night at The Commons explained that the system we have is hard to navigate, frequently takes too long to get treatment and allows people to fall through the cracks.

They envision a system that is ready to start helping people as soon as those addicts are ready to get help with easy connections to the services they need to get into recovery.

Julie Abedian with Columbus Regional Health heads the treatment team for ASAP.

She explained that the community should soon be getting a specialist doctors office focused on addiction treatment. She compared it to other specialists such as a heart doctor or cancer specialist.

The goal would be to have one or more doctors, along with nurse practitioners and links to other services.

The hospital’s goal is to have that office in place by early next year. One possible holdup could be the sheer lack of those speciality doctors across the country, Abedian said.

Also coming soon could be a new treatment program for single women with young children. That would be an extension of an Indianapolis program, called the Fresh Start Recovery Center, she said.

Other critical needs include treatment programs for men and women, and a one stop shop for addiction services. That would tentatively be called the Hub, but no location has yet been identified.

The agency launched its new website last night, asapbc.org.