The Talbott Legacy Centers (TLC) announced the opening of a new opioid treatment program (OTP) in Maryville, Tennessee in April. With service delivery starting April 7, the program will include comprehensive, nonresidential treatment services.
Benjamin M. Roe, M.D. is the medical director. Many residents of Blount County, where the OTP is located, already know Dr. Roe as we worked in the emergency department of Blount Memorial Hospital; he is also a long-time resident of Blount County, board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, and a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (where he is about to become board certified in addiction medicine).
Erin R. Talbott, MSN, APRN is joining the TLC Maryville medical team; she spent 7 years working in the labor and delivery unit of Blount Memorial Hospital and graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Master of Science in Nursing with a pediatric specialty, and then worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner. She also has a Post-Master’s Certificate in women’s Health from Vanderbilt University.
Zachary C. Talbott, TLC President, is a Licensed Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselor, and Licensed Master Social Worker. “We are thrilled that our medical team will be led by a physician with the breadth of experience found in Dr. Roe’s Vitae from family to emergency to addiction medicine, and we couldn’t be more humbled that Erin has decided to join our team,” said Talbott. “Pregnant women are among the most vulnerable of the population we serve. Assuring comprehensive healthcare for pregnant women with opioid use disorder, resulting in a healthy pregnancy and delivery, is among the greatest of joys I have experienced as an opioid treatment professional.”
Added Dr. Roe: “High quality, long-term treatment for opioid use disorder had been so desperately needed in this community. I cannot wait to see the impact it has in the emergency department where we see firsthand the suffering this disorder causes. I’m excited to be treating people proactively rather than responding to cases of overdose or other medical complications.”
Other members of the TLC Maryville medical team include Joyce Brown, LPN, Alicia Ogle, RN, and Melinda Watson, RN. The nursing team has more than 50 years of collective experience in the provision of comprehensive opioid treatment services, behavioral healthcare, anesthesiology, and/or the ethical treatment of chronic pain.
There is a paucity of OTPs in Tennessee, resulting in a large number of individuals on the waiting list. This means TLC Maryville won’t open for walk-in admissions during the first week of operations. The facility anticipates admitting from 5-7 individuals a day.
Transfer patients from other opioid treatment programs outside the TLC service area will be scheduled on the day they are due back for services, and residents not currently enrolled in treatment will be given priority.
The Maryville City Board of Zoning Appeals cleared the way for TLC Maryville to initiate services in early 2021 when they granted final zoning approval on July 27, 2020.
TLC Maryville is now licensed by the State of Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS), Certified by the federal Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and has applied for accreditation by The Joint Commission (JCAHO) Behavioral Healthcare Accreditation program.