Jackson Hospital in Marianna is expanding its services to help patients fight substance abuse. "New Vision" is an inpatient stabilization program designed to treat the issues directly under hospital care.

The county desperately needs the service because of surging drug and alcohol abuse problems.

Substance abuse continues to be a problem across the United States.
And Jackson County isn't exempt from it.
"There's a predominance in this area of substance abuse for prescription pain killers."
So Jackson Hospital is partnering with SpecialCare Hospital Management in St. Louis, Missouri to offer patients a "new vision."
"The New Vision service is really dealing with medical management of individuals who are in acute withdrawal," says Tom Millea, Senior VP of Operations.
The program specifically helps alcoholics, heroin addicts and prescription drug abusers break their cycle of addiction.
"It's important because withdrawal is a life threatening situation and what happens with an addict is they try to stop using, and their physiological reaction is they go into this withdrawal to the point that they're in pain and they take the medication again, they self-medicate themselves over and over again."
An intake coordinator assesses prospective patients' medical conditions.
If the service is appropriate for the patient, they're admitted to begin treatment in a hospital setting.
"The beauty of the system really is that it's a medical model, utilizing medical benefits with an insurance carrier rather than looking at it as a psychiatric or behavioral problem.
The inpatient stabilization program is designed to last only 3-5 days.
Millea says the withdrawal process is reversed the minute they receive the proper medication.
"So it's a short stay, with a focus on providing a safe withdrawal and getting the individual to understand why he/she has a problem."
And that's why treatment doesn't just end when the patent leaves the hospital.
They also have the option of enrolling in community programs to help them control their addictions.

For more information on the "New Vision" service, you can call 1-800-939-CARE.