Empowering Recovery Through Lived Experience: The Impact of Peer Recovery Specialists at ChristianaCare Union Hospital

“There was a guy standing at the end of my hospital bed that I didn’t know,” recalled Brandon Younce. “I’ll never forget this. He had a shirt on that said ‘Got Narcan.’ He introduced himself as Aaron from Voices of Hope. He said he was a peer recovery specialist, and he asked me, ‘Hey, man, are you ready to go to treatment?’”

This encounter took place before the peer recovery specialist program at Voices of Hope formally partnered with ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital and the Cecil County Health Department in 2023 to grow the program into the robust offering it is today. For Younce, the program has meant not only a path to reaching and maintaining his own sobriety: It has also allowed him to become a specialist himself.

And for the over 600 patients assisted through the program in fiscal year 2024, 440 of whom were connected to long-term recovery treatments, the program has meant receiving a chance at healing under the stewardship of peers who have themselves experienced addiction and recovery.

Emily Granitto, M.D., of Emergency Medicine at Union Hospital, said that the process “works really seamlessly: We have a discussion with a patient and say ‘hey, we have someone available. Would you like to talk to peer recovery and see what we can do to help?’ Then a specialist comes, and they talk through the resources and options.”

By having the specialist located in-hospital and ready with resources at the patient’s bedside, said Granitto, the chances for a patient’s successful transfer to long-term treatment are much higher than if the patient is expected to fend for themselves upon discharge.

“We’re able to address their substance abuse concerns and tie it all into their visit here in the Emergency Department. That opportunity may not necessarily arise otherwise in the community — so offering it here and providing that olive branch can be a good bridge to the next step,” she said.

The need for programs like these has never been more urgent. According to a 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment report from ChristianaCare and the Cecil County Health Department, Cecil County’s “drug poisoning death rate” is nearly double the statewide rate and triple the national average. Services like the peer recovery specialists at Union Hospital are a critical lifeline for many.

Harnessing the Power of Lived Experience

The peer recovery specialist program currently places 10 trained peer specialists at Union Hospital to provide supportive coverage for patients admitted to the emergency room in active withdrawal or with a history of addiction.

“The peer program at Union Hospital is the perfect example of what is possible when you harness the power of lived experience and strong community partnerships,” said Health Officer Lauren Levy, JD, MPH, of the Cecil County Health Department.

“The collaboration between caregivers and the peer workforce has been integral to strengthening linkages to care and improving health outcomes for people with substance use disorder.”

In collaboration with caregivers — including doctors, nurses and social workers — these specialists help to support patients and to connect them with longer-term treatment and rehabilitation options within and outside of ChristianaCare. They’re present and available at the hospital from 8:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week.

Doctors and nurses who work alongside peer recovery specialists can pair patients with specialists based on patients’ needs; some patients are admitted in active withdrawal, whereas for others, a need for treatment comes up as part of their intake.

“What the peers do is really very magical because they can connect to the patient,” said Lisa Fields, manager for community engagement on ChristianaCare’s Cecil County campus, “They can tell their story to the patient and say, ‘This is where I have been. I do understand.’”

Partnerships Support People in Need

Voices of Hope, with a primary mission of supporting addiction recovery for Maryland residents and their families, trains peer specialists alongside the Cecil County Health Department, another vital partner in the peer recovery specialist program. Training requires 500 hours in the role and 25 hours of supervision from a registered peer supervisor.

Peer recovery specialists provide a form of connection that is unique and impactful for someone struggling with substance use disorder: empathy informed by personal experience.

For Erin Wright, Voices of Hope’s chief operations officer, this partnership has enabled all the involved providers to build a unique, vital community to support people in need of help. “The opposite of addiction is connection,” she said.

“I’ve had doctors come to my peers, and say, ‘How did you just do that?’ A peer can walk in the room and, in 20 minutes, walk out and say, ‘Listen, here’s the plan.”

Back in 2019, Younce’s emergency-room encounter with Aaron led to a treatment plan that included rehab, which led to his graduation from treatment and ongoing sobriety, which then led to his decision to become a peer recovery specialist himself and eventually, he hopes, a social worker.

“It’s very surreal,” he said, “working at Union Hospital and actually telling patients, like, ‘I know how you feel. I’ve been in this position.’”

Recovery Support Through Project Engage in Delaware

ChristianaCare’s commitment to supporting patients with substance use disorders is systemwide. Project Engage, a vital initiative serving ChristianaCare’s Newark, Wilmington and Middletown campuses, aids patients struggling with alcohol or drug use by providing early intervention and referrals to substance use disorder treatment. Peer recovery specialists engage with patients in the emergency department and at the bedside, helping them understand their substance use and offering treatment options.

Since 2012, Project Engage has served more than 13,000 patients and conducted over 27,000 patient engagements, with more than 60% of these engagements resulting in referrals to community treatment at discharge.