Addiction

Rotation Information

Good Samaritan Hospital is a small rural medical/surgical, detox and psychiatric hospital that serves some of the poorest patients in Kern County. The facility consists of 39 medical/surgical/ detox beds, 15 adult inpatient psychiatric beds and 6 geriatric inpatient beds and 4 ICU beds. Though the hospital is for-profit, more than 75% of the patients they treat have Medi-Cal or are uninsured. 
Good Samaritan Hospital is one of the only voluntary inpatient medical detox facilities in the Central Valley. They provide treatment to the most acute and severe patients suffering from withdrawals from substances such as alcohol, opiates and stimulants withdrawals. On a typical day residents are providing care for approximately 5 to 8 patients undergoing detox management and treatments. Residents learn to complete addictions specific intakes and manage complex withdrawal protocols. Residents gain experience in medications assisted treatments such as Suboxone and Naltrexone and they also learn to manage complex withdrawals requiring IV treatment protocols, such as for delirium tremens in the ICU. 
Good Samaritan is also one of the few facilities in the region that has a licensed and accredited inpatient beds specifically for geriatric patients. All patients admitted to the program are over the age of 65 and frequently have significant comorbid psychiatric and medical conditions. Residents gain experience in complex medication management and the unique biopsychosocial makeup of the geriatric population. Residents carry up to 6 patients while on the service and manage admissions, discharge planning and all aspects of patient care.

The site director and supervisor is Dr. Juan Sosa. He is on site everyday and provides supervision to both the geriatric and addictions resident. He provides geriatric and addictions specific lectures/didactics daily. Residents also have the opportunity to work with medical students and develop their teaching and leadership skills. 
The site provides a separate physician work area with ample computer availability and all residents also have access to the physician lounge where they can rest, eat, etc. Residents also have full access to the various patient interview offices located throughout the facility. As Good Samaritan is a fully functioning acute hospital, the residents work with a full suite of nursing staff, social services, discharge planning and other ancillary services and the residents become a core part of the interdisciplinary care team during the rotation. 
The educational impact that Good Samaritan provides is immensely positive and these experiences are unique and available exclusively to our residents. This provides them access to severely ill substance use disorder patients and geriatric patients that are not available anywhere else in the central valley.