OHSU’s IMPACT program brings together peers, social workers, physicians and addiction medicine specialists to engage hospitalized patients with substance use disorders, offering connection, treatment support and pathways to recovery. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)

OHSU’s IMPACT program brings together peers, social workers, physicians and addiction medicine specialists to engage hospitalized patients with substance use disorders, offering connection, treatment support and pathways to recovery. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)

OHSU’s IMPACT program brings together peers, social workers, physicians and addiction medicine specialists to engage hospitalized patients with substance use disorders, offering connection, treatment support and pathways to recovery. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)

A project at OHSU addresses the opioid epidemic through an innovative approach. Known as Project IMPACT, or the Improving Addiction Care Team, the program brings together physicians, social workers, peer-recovery mentors and community addiction providers to tackle the root causes of addiction when patients are admitted to the hospital for conditions such as endocarditis or severe joint or spinal infections related to their addiction.

Program director Honora Englander, M.D., a professor of medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine; peer-recovery counselor O’Nesha Cochran; and Melissa Weimer, D.O., an adjunct professor of medicine at OHSU, describe how the program works in this video.

OHSU’s IMPACT program brings together peers, social workers, physicians and addiction medicine specialists to engage hospitalized patients with substance use disorders, offering connection, treatment support and pathways to recovery. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)