PUTNAM — Day Kimball Hospital’s new Project ASSERT program recorded 43 consultations with 38 patients during its first five weeks, according to an October 12 announcement.
The hospital reported three inpatient treatment placements, six outpatient placements, four detox placements and two medication-for-opioid-use-disorder interventions. These are the hospital’s early service counts, not independently measured long-term recovery outcomes.
Project ASSERT brings health promotion advocates into the emergency department to screen for substance misuse, explain options and connect patients with treatment, primary care, counseling and community support. The hospital says Connecticut’s Opioid Settlement Fund finances the program, administered through the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
The aim is to connect immediate emergency care with continuing support. Patients can ask to speak with a health promotion advocate during an emergency-department visit, according to the hospital’s program page.
The new announcement does not mean recovery support was previously absent. DMHAS describes an earlier recovery-coach initiative that began in four eastern Connecticut hospitals in 2017 and expanded statewide. Its 2024 participant list includes Day Kimball, along with other regional hospitals.
The reviewed release does not give the precise first operating date, advocate coverage hours or follow-up outcomes for the first patients. The program’s initial figures and funding description are attributed to Day Kimball.