Maggie McKay (Host): Sometimes in life we need a little help, and that's where Clean Slate comes in. This program provides treatment for alcohol and opioid use disorders, as we'll hear from Danielle Wegman, Community Relations Liaison.

 Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk, presented by Stoughton Health. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Thank you so much for being here, Danielle.

Danielle Wegman: Thank you Maggie. I am really appreciative that you allowed me the time to chat with you today.

Host: Absolutely. Let's just start with what is Clean Slate?

Danielle Wegman: Absolutely. So Clean Slate is an outpatient addiction treatment center where we utilize medicated assisted treatment to treat opioid or alcohol use disorders in our community.

Host: And what's offered to Clean Slate patients?

Danielle Wegman: We have a lot of different options for our patients in terms of the medications that we utilize. We focus mostly on individualized care for each patient, meeting them where they're at in their recovery. So we have options like sublocade, suboxone, Vivitrol, and most recently Brixadi to help treat the opioid or alcohol use disorders that they might have.

We also provide for our patients, hepatitis C testing and treatments. We can also provide testing for HIV. And some of our centers in the state even have in house counseling for individual and group therapy.

Host: It sounds like you've got everything covered. That's awesome. What can patients expect when they come to Clean Slate?

Danielle Wegman: They can expect to be welcomed with open arms. We have such incredible staff, from the person who greets you at the front desk, to the center managers, to the providers. Everyone is working together to make sure that our patients feel comfortable and gets the treatment that they deserve and that will help them to recover.

We also provide resources. A lot of times, if our patients are experiencing the disease of addiction, there's other things happening in their life too. So we really try to make sure that they are equipped in order to thrive in their recovery.

Host: And the big question, what type of insurance is accepted?

Danielle Wegman: Right. The big question. So thankfully our centers accept all insurances in the state of Wisconsin. That includes BadgerCare, especially for like our Madison and Janesville centers closest to Stoughton. We accept Quartz. We accept all commercial insurances. Again, we do accept Medicaid and we even accept folks who are uninsured with self pay options.

Host: That is amazing. I mean, you must be the only one in the United States that accepts all that. That's so great. How long of a wait is it to get in for an appointment?

Danielle Wegman: I'm happy to share that we actually allow for walk in appointments. So when someone makes that decision to start recovery, we really need to be as accessible as possible for our community members. And so not having that waiting list allows for that to happen sooner than later. And so we can get someone scheduled basically that day.

We are open Monday through Friday and have late night clinic hours as well, just to be available for patients who decide that they are ready for that care.

Host: And how can someone schedule an appointment or learn more?

Danielle Wegman: That's a really great question. There's a lot of different options. Again, we just want to meet people where they're at. So if they have a cell phone, they can call us. They can call me directly. My phone number is 414-399-0614. They can make an appointment right away by calling 866-798-4669. They can email us at patientsupport help@cleanslatecenters. com. If they're working with a case manager or if they're coming from a hospital system, they can fax us at 833-296-0864. Again, we really just try to be as accessible as possible for our community members and whatever way that they can reach us, we will make sure to get them in the door as soon as possible.

Host: Danielle, is addiction rare in the community?

Danielle Wegman: Unfortunately, it is not. I guarantee every single person, including yourself, myself, everyone listening or watching this, they know or love someone who has experienced addiction. It is a disease that does not discriminate based on gender or economics or race. It affects every single person in our community, whether it affects you directly or, again, by someone that you know or love.

So it is not rare. It is not something that people should be ashamed of. I know it is very stigmatized, but it's something that we want people to feel comfortable acknowledging in the community. So then healing can start happening and recovery can start happening.

Host: What would you say to somebody who's thinking about coming, but they're hesitant and scared and they don't know what to expect, but they feel like they're almost there?

Danielle Wegman: Yeah, I would definitely say it doesn't hurt to reach out and ask what our options are and kind of see what works best for them. Our providers are very accessible. If they have questions, they can even talk to our providers. If they want to kind of research on their own without talking to anyone, they can always go to our website and peruse that way.

We are active on social media, so you can see, you know, patient stories and other people's experiences while at Clean Slate. So, there are a lot of options whether you do want to talk to someone directly or kind of do the research yourself.

Host: Well, it sounds like you've got all the bases covered and that you make it really easy for somebody to access your program or even make an appointment or find out more. In closing, is there anything else you'd like to add?

Danielle Wegman: I just, again, hope that whoever hears this, either who knows someone or they themselves are experiencing the disease of addiction, that you are not alone. We do not judge you here at Clean Slate. We want you to be healthy and happy and thriving. And we can definitely work together as a community to make sure that we reduce and hopefully one day eliminate overdoses. And, I look forward to hearing from anyone who is wanting to learn more.

Host: Thank you so much for sharing your expertise. It's so helpful, Danielle.

Danielle Wegman: Thank you for having me, Maggie.

Host: Again, that's Danielle Wegman, and if you'd like more information regarding CleanSlate, visit cleanslatecenters.com. And to find out more on a variety of health related topics, visit stoughtonhealth.com. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you.

I'm Maggie McKay. Thanks for listening to Stoughton Health Talk, a podcast from Stoughton Health.