CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Biden administration Drug Czar Dr. Rahul Gupta said he’s impressed with the newly expanded clinic at West Virginia Health Right on Charleston’s East End.
Gupta, the former Kanawha-Charleston Health Department director and former state Chief Health Officer, got a tour of the recently expanded space during a visit to Charleston Thursday.
The variety of help being offered there is the most impressive thing, Gupta said.
“It’s a one-stop-shop where you can get your vision, your dental and your mental and physical health while at the same time learn how to cook, how to exercise, get all of those services at one place,” Gupta said.
Gupta, whose official title is director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, knows about Health Right. He’s been a volunteer there for 15 years.
Health Right CEO Angie Settle told MetroNews last month the project has been a long time coming to provide additional care to underserved populations.
“It’s been in the planning and in the works since 2019 with a lot of fundraising going on,” she said.
Settle said the expansion is projected to allow them to serve over 60,000 patients annually. Currently the clinic serves over 44,000 patients annually. The number has increased from 15,000 in 2014 when Settle took over as CEO.
Settle said the clinic has lacked a lot of space since then. There’s a lot more room now.
“It’s just really additional treatment space,” Settle said. “We have a whole wing for behavioral health and substance use disorder. We’ve added medical and specialty spaces, vision space, dental space.”
Gupta said another asset about the new clinic is that it deals with both sides of substance use disorder.
“It’s something that for so many years we’ve figured out how to separate the head from the body but this facility here is bringing together and reconnecting the importance of substance use disorder and mental health with physical health,” he said.
Gupta said it’s critical to have such integration.
Gupta has fought the opioid epidemic on the state and national level. He said when he visits facilities like Health Right it restores his hope.
“We are need to stay hopeful that it is possible to help people who suffer from addiction. It is possible to prevent addiction from happening in the first place and when people are in recovery to help them find their success,” he said.