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​​​Inclusion is not an endorsement
The Maryland Department of Health shares these accounts to highlight practices other facilities may find useful. Appearing in this series is not an endorsement, recommendation, certification, or approval of any hospital, health system, provider, vendor, or program by the Maryland Department of Health or the State of Maryland. Descriptions and figures are provided by the participating facilities.
Overdose Data to Action · Emergency Department Programs

Emergency Department Impact Spotlight

 

Recovery can start in the emergency department. These are accounts from Maryland clinicians and peer recovery specialists who co​nnect pa​tients to ongoing care at the moment it matters most — each one ending with concrete steps another hospital can consider.​

Stories across Maryland​​

 

Each post is tagged by region and by the ASAM-aligned core competency​ it highlights.

 
Published August 31, 2026
Western MarylandLinkage to ongoing SUD care​Identification and engagement
A daily wave of overdoses pushed Meritus to build a six-bed crisis unit — and peers became the engine of its outcomes.
Alan Twigg · Meritus Health
 
Published August 31, 2026
Western MarylandLinkage to ongoing SUD care​Assessment and management of common co-occurring conditions
Vans, a food pharmacy, and a six-bed crisis unit — funded by reinvesting savings into patient-centered outcomes.
Dave Lehr · Meritus Health
 
Published August 31, 2026
Upper Eastern Shore Identification and engagement Initiation/continuation of addiction medications​
In a county with roughly double the state’s overdose fatality rate, embedding peers as colleagues — not visitors — reached 600+ patients in a year.
Lisa Fields · ChristianaCare Union Hospital
 
Published August 31, 2026
Upper Eastern Shore Intoxication and withdrawal management​Initiation/continuation of addiction medications
When a new sedative drove a 900% surge in withdrawal admissions, ChristianaCare built the protocol — then standardized it.
Dr. Greg Wanner · ChristianaCare Union Hospital
 
Published August 31, 2026
Central Maryland Identification and engagementLinkage to ongoing SUD care
Peers embedded across a hospital, a jail, libraries, and​​ motels — because readiness rarely arrives in the ED, and rarely on the first try.
Scott & Corey · Howard County
 
Published August 31, 2026
Southern Maryland Identification and engagementInitiation/continuation of addiction medications
Once a patient in this ED, Eric is now one of its most trusted faces — building 90-day relationships that sometimes last lifetimes.
Eric · MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital
 
Published August 31, 2026
Baltimore CityInitiation/continuation of addiction medicationsLinkage to ongoing SUD care
By making SUD care a core medical service — and using the DEA 3-day rule for methadone — UMMC keeps patients from falling through the gap.
Dr. Malik Burnett · University of Maryland Medical Center
 
Published August 31, 2026
Southern​ MarylandInitiation/continuation of addiction medications Identification and engagement
An overnight physician built the order sets, paperwork, and repetition that made buprenorphine routine instead of exceptional.
Dr. Laura Haselden · MedStar St. Mary's Hospital​
 
Published August 3​1, 2026
Baltimore CityInitiation/continuation of addiction medicationsAssessment/management of co-occurring conditions
Two programs built from scratch with the Mosaic Group made buprenorphine induction and a 90-day peer relationship the default response to an overdose, not the exception.
Dr. Aliya Jones · Grace Medical Center
 
Published August 31, 2026
Baltimore CityInitiation/continuation of addiction medications​Assessment/management of co-occurring conditions​
By integrating mental health care into its opioid treatment program and training every resident and medical student who rotates through, Sinai turned a clinic few staff knew about into a model for the hospital.
Dr. Devang Gandhi · Sinai Hospital, LifeBridge Health
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What every story covers

 
1
The challenge
What the facility faced before the program.
2
The program
What they built and how a patient moves through it.
3
The voices
An ED clinician and a peer recovery specialist.
4
Take it home
Replicable steps, funding notes, and the policy ask.

Share your hospital’s story

The Overdose Data to Action team is interviewing emergency department clinicians and peer recovery specialists across Maryland. Tell us about your program and we will follow up about an interview.

What we’ll ask for
Hospital or health system
Facility name and city.
Contact name and role
Who we should follow up with.
Work email and phone
Preferred contact method.
Region
Central, Eastern Shore, Western, Southern, or Baltimore City.
Program focus
Which ASAM-aligned services your ED program provides.
Brief description
A few sentences on what makes the program work.

Questions? Contact the Overdose Data to Action team at [email protected]. Submitting the form does not guarantee inclusion, and inclusion is not an endorsement by the Maryland Department of Health.

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