A new addiction specialist clinic will help people across western Victoria to deal with opioid misuse as the problem continues to grow across Australia.
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The clinic is the first of its type in the region.
It will be overseen by Orticare and based at Ballarat Community Health's Lucas site and cover the Central Highlands, Grampians, Wimmera, Loddon and Mallee regions.
The weekly clinic will feature in-person and telehealth options with Orticare's first addiction medicine specialist Dr Adam Straub.
Orticare is one of five Pharmacotherapy Area Based Networks in Victoria, focusing on harm reduction by improving access to treatment for people with opioid dependency.
Dr Straub said the clinic was needed to cope with increasing opioid use and more complex cases.
"On the whole, there has been a slow but steady increase in the past few years," Dr Straub said.
"It's less of a problem in Australia than it is in the USA, but there is an ongoing opioid use issue within the wider community and many Victorians die each year due to opioid use."
Dr Straub added: "There is no access to an addiction medicine specialist outside of Melbourne and Shepparton so this clinic will provide more local support in Western Victoria."
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Dr Straub qualified in addiction medicine in March after completing three years of study through the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
He will also complete his general and acute care medicine training this year.
"A lot of my pre-physician training work was in emergency and critical care and throughout that time I worked with Victoria Police looking after people in police cells," he said.
"I was exposed to a lot of people with substance use disorders and noticed they were largely under supported in the broader community.
"I began looking into how we could better support those patients and found addiction medicine as a formal specialty."
Dr Straub says alcohol is the substance causing most harm in Australia but opioid issues are not going away, especially for people with trauma backgrounds and co-occurring mental health conditions.
"If anyone has a concern about their opioid use, they should consult their GP and seek a referral to the clinic," he said.
"There are a variety of treatment options with good success rates, including new developments with long-acting medications."
Dr Straub said it was important to have a regional-based clinic.
"In metropolitan areas, there is more heroin use, in regional areas prescription misuse becomes more of a problem," he said.
"The nature of the problem changes slightly but it is quite a concern in regional areas."
The clinic will be available one afternoon per week starting in early July.
The hours could be extended depending on demand and availability.
Orticare manager Pauline Molloy said the appointment was a coup for the region.
Ben Fraser
Ben is the Editor with the Wimmera Mail-Times, Stawell Times-News and Ararat Advertiser. Ben is the former chief of staff at the Portland Observer, a qualified teacher, and an Leadership Great South Coast alumni (2019).
Ben is the Editor with the Wimmera Mail-Times, Stawell Times-News and Ararat Advertiser. Ben is the former chief of staff at the Portland Observer, a qualified teacher, and an Leadership Great South Coast alumni (2019).
