Treatment on the Move with Jordana LatozasTreatment on the Move with Jordana Latozas
Recovery Recharged with Ellen Stewart Pushy Broad from the Bronx
What if Treatment for Substance Misuse was available at your doorstep? The Recovery Mobile Clinic units are mobile medical teams that offer medical and social services onsite at your location similar to that of a local Doctor Office or Urgent Care....
55:04•8 Feb 2024
Taking Treatment to the Streets: Recovery Mobile Clinic’s Bold Approach
Episode Overview
- Recovery Mobile Clinic turns refurbished RVs and an ambulance into full-service medical and addiction clinics that travel directly to community sites.
- Non-addictive medicated assisted treatment, including naltrexone and Vivitrol, is used to support sobriety while avoiding the risks of controlled substances.
- The team combines addiction care with services like hepatitis C treatment, blood pressure control, mental health support, and urgent care-style visits to keep people in programmes.
- Case management helps patients obtain IDs, social security documents, phones, and benefits, reducing stressors that can derail recovery.
- A chapter model aims to teach nurse practitioners across many states to run similar mobile services, expanding access and reducing stigma nationwide.
“Mental health and addiction are the only two disease processes where we’re more scared of asking for help than we are scared of the disease itself.”
What drives someone to seek a life where treatment can come straight to your doorstep? This episode spotlights Recovery Mobile Clinic, a fully functioning medical and addiction service run out of refurbished RVs and an ambulance, bringing care directly into communities across Michigan. You’ll hear how nurse practitioner and founder Jordana Latozas turned frustration over missed appointments and transport barriers into a bold idea at her kitchen table: put the clinic in an RV and go to the patients.
She explains how these mobile units work like a doctor’s office or urgent care, offering medicated assisted treatment with non-addictive options such as naltrexone and Vivitrol, alongside hepatitis C care, HIV prevention, blood pressure management, mental health support, and more. Jordana shares early resistance from municipalities worried an addiction clinic would "bring the problems" with it, and how COVID testing for homeless residents helped prove the vans were a solution, not a threat.
She also talks about their firm stance on avoiding controlled substances for safety, consistency, and to keep the relationship with patients warm and welcoming rather than policing. A powerful theme throughout is dignity. Jordana recalls a patient who called himself "a throwaway person" and another whose blood pressure settled once Recovery Mobile Clinic helped him sort basic documents, find work, and leave a shelter.
As she puts it, "Mental health and addiction are the only two disease processes where we’re more scared of asking for help than we are scared of the disease itself." With a staff where around 40% are in active recovery and a growing fleet of vehicles, this episode speaks to anyone who cares about practical, on-the-ground support for addiction and mental health.
It’s aimed at people in recovery, families, professionals, and especially nurse practitioners curious about taking care out into their communities. Could this kind of mobile care be the next push that changes how we support sobriety where people actually live?
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