Grayken Center for Addiction
Affirming Recovery is Possible
Appointments
To get an appointment or talk with someone about addiction services at Boston Medical Center, call 617.638.5500. Or click here to learn more about our programs.
More Ways to Contact
Phone: 617.638.5500
Contact us via email at Grayken.Center@bmc.org. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @GraykenBMC!
The Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center is a national hub for substance use disorders resources. Through a variety of treamtent and support programs for patients of all backgrounds, at Grayken, we revolutionize addiction treatment and education, replicate best practices, and provide policy, advocacy, and thought leadership.
Patient Services
Our comprehensive treatment programs are tailored to meet the unique needs of patients of all ages and walks of life. Understanding that substance use can affect anyone, at any point in life, our substance use programs and services are available and accessible whenever needed, from pregnancy (Project RESPECT) to adolescence (CATALYST Clinic) and in times of crisis (Project ASSERT). By offering a wide array of programs, you can receive care that is suited to your specific needs and effective in ensuring the best possible outcomes. Download the Grayken Center's services.
Areas of Focus
Work at the Grayken Center encompasses a wide range of topics within substance use disorder treatment, research, and advocacy, including the below focus areas.
Addiction Research
Training and Education
Grayken Center Clinical Programs
Policy and Advocacy
Stories of Recovery at Grayken
Stigma is most often the primary reason why people don't receive the addiction treatment they need. Grayken hopes to bring addiction out of the shadows by telling the stories of recovery and the research that goes behind what we do.
Upcoming Events
Want to get involved or hear more from Grayken's addiction experts? Check out our upcoming events to learn more!
AUD Series: Medications for AUD: Naltrexone and Best Practices for Extended Release Naltrexone Injections
Virtual meeting
Via Zoom
Description
AUD Series: These trainings will provide an overview of alcohol use disorders, evidence-based screening tools, brief negotiated interview (BNI) for alcohol consumption, management of AUD in the primary care setting, and medications for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.
This training will review the basic pharmacology and clinical use of naltrexone for the treatment of alcohol use disorders. Injection techniques for XR naltrexone will also be discussed.
Intended audience
Nurses, social workers, other clinical staff, and non-clinicians.
Objectives
- Participants will be able to compare the pros and cons of initiating naltrexone for AUD.
- Participants will be able to identify patients that may benefit from naltrexone.
- Participants will be able to recognize best practices for administering XR naltrexone.
Sponsored by
Boston Medical Center Grayken Center for Addiction, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (DPH/BSAS).
Accreditation information
Awaiting accreditation information
Addiction 101
Virtual meeting
Via Zoom
Description
This training is appropriate for all health care organization staff, including non-clinicians. The training covers stigma, the disease model of addiction, and provides an overview of evidence-based treatment of substance use disorders.
Please note that you must have your camera on so we can see you in order to be eligible for CEUs.
Intended audience
Nurses, social workers, other clinical staff, and non-clinicians.
Speakers
Annie Potter, MSN, MPH, NP, CARN-AP
Annie is a Nurse Practitioner at Boston Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. Annie educates and supports health care providers on best practices in the treatment of substance use disorders and serves as the Medical Director for the Massachusetts Office Based Addiction Treatment ECHO. Prior to joining BMC, Annie practiced at a community health center in Baltimore, MD, where she established and served as the clinical lead for the city's first walk-in HIV treatment and prevention program. She is board-certified in addictions and holds specialty certifications for the treatment of HIV and Hepatitis C. Annie earned her Masters of Nursing and Masters of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Bloomberg School of Public Health, respectively.
Kristin Wason, MSN, NP-C, CARN
Kristin is a Nurse Practitioner at Boston Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. Kristin has been working in addiction medicine since 2009 — initially practicing as a Registered Nurse within BMC's multidisciplinary OBAT clinic, managing a large caseload of patients with substance addiction, and now as a Primary Care Provider with a full DATA2000 X-waiver. In addition to her clinical practice, Kristin advises and supports community health centers on integration of best practices for treating substance use disorders into institutions across Massachusetts and nationwide. Kristin earned her MSN, Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, degree from Salem State University. She is board certified in addictions nursing through the Addictions Nursing Certification Board.
Objectives
After attending this training, participants will:
- Describe the prevalence of substance use disorders in the US.
- Define substance use disorders as chronic medical conditions.
- Identify at least 3 evidence-based treatment strategies for substance use disorders.
- Recognize and respond to an opioid overdose.
Sponsored by
Boston Medical Center Grayken Center for Addiction, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (DPH/BSAS).
Accreditation information
Boston Medical Center grants 1.00 hours to all nurses who attend and complete the evaluation. Boston Medical Center is approved as a provider of continuing professional development by American Nurses Association, Massachusetts, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Boston University School of Social Work which is authorized through the MA state board of Social Work to provide 1.00 CE Credit Hours.
Boston University School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association, Inc. (MaMHCA) grants 1.00 LMHC CE Credits to LMHCs that attend this activity.
X-Waiver Training
Virtual meeting
Via Zoom
Description
This eight-hour course prepares physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder in their office. The curriculum includes the science of addiction as a brain disorder, the pharmacology of buprenorphine, and the regulatory requirements around prescribing this medication. Attendees will learn to screen patients for treatment with buprenorphine and to manage the medication along with the patient's other medical needs in an office setting such as a primary care clinic. The course fulfills 8 hours of the training needed to obtain a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine to over 30 patients for Physicians. Advanced Practice Providers must complete 24 hours of specialized training to prescribe buprenorphine to over 30 patients.
Intended audience
Physicians (MD, DO), Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM), Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA), and Physician Assistants
Objectives
- Screen and identify patients with OUD and define evidence-based treatments.
- Discuss the pharmacology of opioids as it relates to treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) patients.
- Describe the fundamentals of office-based opioid treatment including the treatment of the co-morbid patient.
- Explain the process of buprenorphine induction as well as stabilization and maintenance.
- Discuss all FDA approved antagonist and agonist medications to treat OUD.
- Discuss basic office protocols including medical record documentation and confidentially.
- Utilize evidence-based resources to ensure providers have the confidence to prescribe buprenorphine for patients with OUD.
- Recognize the importance of obtaining a waiver to begin treating patients with OUD.
Sponsored by
Boston Medical Center Grayken Center for Addiction, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (DPH/BSAS).
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) is the DATA 2000 sponsor for this waiver training.
Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant no. 1H79TI081968 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
NA Group - Rising Above
Thursday 12:00-1:00pm
NA Group - Rising Above
Rapid ACCESS 774 Albany Street 2nd fl (check-in at the front desk)
- Open discussion
- Beginners group
- Topic meeting
Our Experts
The Grayken Center for Addiction is a multidisciplinary team of physicians, social workers, patient navigators, nurse practitioners, project managers, researchers, nurses, recovery coaches, and more who all work together to support patients with substance use disorders.
OBAT Nursing Competencies
Nursing is a critical component of addiction treatment. Nurses are often the frontline provider for patients admitted to the hospital with addiction, and one of the first people a patient sees at an outpatient appointment. However, comprehensive addiction education is rarely provided in nursing schools, leaving a gap between what nurses are taught and who they treat. The OBAT TTA program at BMC is one program that leads the charge to educate nurses, and other treatment team members, about addiction and treatment. As part of this mission, members of THE OBAT team developed a toolkit called the Addiction Nursing Competencies to support nurses, as well as their managers, to provide and evaluate addiction treatment in their practice.
Residency and Fellowship Information
BMC has a number of unique opportunities for residents and fellows to train in caring for patients with addiction, including an addiction medicine fellowship program, addiction psychiatry fellowship program, and addiction training in the general psychiatry residency. These programs all train clinicians in different stages of their career in the recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of substance use disorders in a variety of settings.
Latest from HealthCity
BMC Pilots Training Program to Improve Post-Acute Care for Patients with Substance Use Disorder
Training program extends education to skilled nursing facilities to reduce discrimination and increase acceptance rates of patients with SUD.
Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Are Routinely Rejected from Post-Acute Care Facilities in the Northeast, Study Finds
New Research from the Grayken Center for Addiction Suggests Ongoing Discrimination Against Patients with OUD, Despite State and Federal Guidelines.
BMC Launches First Maternal Health Addiction Fellowship
As overdoses become leading cause of pregnancy-related mortality, new fellowship training brings specialists to Obstetric-Addiction Medicine.
BMC Bridge Clinic Charts a Needed Path to Methadone for Opioid Withdrawal
Faster Paths is showing that accessible methadone treatment is a needed service for patients seeking ongoing care for opioid use disorder.
The Call for Women-Focused Addiction Treatment Is Growing Louder
Women face unique barriers to accessing substance use care. An addiction expert says punitive policies and siloed service models must be reformed.
BMC Launches New Housing Initiative at 'Mass and Cass' with City of Boston
The low-threshold, transitional housing model aims to help people experiencing homelessness alongside addiction, mental health, and other concerns.
End Involuntary Addiction Treatment in Prison, BMC Experts Urge Mass. Lawmakers
Recovery coach Tyshaun Perryman shared a candid story of his own father's experience of civil commitment for substance use treatment.
To Address 'Mass and Cass' Crisis, Transitional Housing Is Crucial
Low-barrier, temporary housing allows people with addiction to stabilize and prepare for transition into permanent housing.
The COVID-19 Pandemic Sparked a Shift in SOFAR's Addiction Care Model
The program began with a focus on mother and newborn. Now it's expanding its comprehensive care model to prevent older children from developing SUD.
A Promising Program Pairs Housing Assistance with Injectable Opioid Agonist Treatment
After one year, the Ottawa-based program's retention was 77%. Now, experts are looking at how it could inform opioid addiction treatment in the U.S.
A New Toolkit Equips Nurses with Essential Skills to Treat Addiction
Many nursing schools lack addiction care in the curriculum. Now, Boston Medical Center nurses are working to fill that education gap.
Can Parenting Interventions Help Mothers with OUD & Their Babies?
A new clinical trial will research how BRIGHT, a trauma-responsive, attachment-based therapeutic parenting intervention, helps mothers with addiction.
Call Our Hotline
To get an appointment or talk with someone about addiction services at Boston Medical Center, call 617.638.5500. Or click here to learn more about our programs.