Justin Hatch has always had a passion for helping people. As a child, he was fascinated by “what makes people tick, and why they do what they do.” But when Hatch was 18, a tragedy galvanized his life’s path. “A kid I grew up with died by suicide,” he remembers. “I knew him pretty well and that was something I didn’t think I could imagine him doing. It got me to contemplate what I could do to help other people in that type of situation in the future.”

Today, as director of behavioral health with Ogden Regional Medical Center in Washington Terrace, Utah, Hatch works with substance use and mental health patients. His mission is two-fold: to provide them with the care they need and to de-stigmatize these diseases that are often misunderstood.

“Some people are more hard-wired to be addicted,” says Hatch. “They might start using a substance to cope with pain or mental illness, and their brains start telling them they need that substance or they are going to die. It becomes a matter of life and death. We have to recognize that this isn’t something they chose.”

As the third-largest mental health provider in the country, HCA Healthcare offers a tremendous support network for its hospitals, like Ogden Regional Medical Center.

Not only does Ogden Regional Medical Center care for patients in an inpatient detox unit — primarily used for alcohol, opioids and controlled substances like Ativan and Xanax — it also offers inpatient and outpatient treatment for substance abuse, a partial hospitalization program and a 12-bed residential unit.

“Across HCA Healthcare, other programs have inpatient detox as well as intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs. But we are the only program with a residential substance use disorder program,” Hatch says. Residents can stay up to two months, and treatment includes individual counseling, group therapy and recreational therapy sessions.

“Addiction is a disease, and just like any disease, you will have relapses and setbacks,” Hatch says. “You don’t go through a 30-day program and are free. You have to continue to work on it the rest of your life. The average person goes through a substance treatment program seven times before reaching long-term recovery.”

The coping skills taught in evidence-based treatment modalities, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy and motivation interviewing help people to identify their triggers for substance use and learn alternative coping mechanisms to reach recovery.

HCA Healthcare’s mental-health facilities are leading the charge for evidence-based and medication-assisted treatments. Hatch offers an example to explain the importance of evidence-based treatments that have been tested over long periods of time with large groups. “Similar to FDA approval for medications, we want to be sure our treatment modalities are effective in decreasing substance use disorders and mental illness.”

The American Society of Addiction Medication advocates for treating patients where they are in their addiction journey, and Hatch says the stages of change — precontemplation, contemplation, action and maintenance — help identify how motivated and prepared someone is to make a change.

Many evidence-based programs, like motivational interviewing, incorporate the four “stages of change,” a spectrum that helps identify where patients fall in overcoming addiction. Doctors then suggest a treatment that meets patients where they are. This is the most beneficial approach for moving the needle.

“When people are in precontemplation, they don’t think they have a problem,” says Hatch. “For someone who doesn’t see that they have a problem, trying to force them to make significant changes in their life will typically not end with the person reaching their long-term recovery goals immediately. At this stage, we really need to use treatments like motivation interviewing to help them identify that the substance use may be affecting their life in a negative way and start to see that the potential benefits of a life free from substances.”

Across HCA Healthcare facilities, doctors are also using medication-assisted treatments with continued success. Because the goal is to move patients into the “maintenance” stage of change, medication can offer a safety net that relieves some of their worst symptoms.

Hatch advocates for a combination of evidence-based treatments and medication-assisted treatment. “Twenty or 30 years ago, it was taboo to consider using any substance at all,” says Hatch. “But research shows that if we leave some people with nothing, they’re in worse shape than they were before they started.”

Hatch thinks it’s important to remember that nobody chooses addiction. “You don’t just wake up and decide, ‘I’m going to have a substance use disorder.’” Rather, people turn to substances as a coping mechanism. Sometimes the root cause is anxiety or depression.

“One thing I think is a huge contributor to substance use disorders and mental illness in our society is technology,” says Hatch. While he believes it has the potential to be a great thing, it can also lead to isolation. “Even though we feel like we are connecting, we’re actually becoming more disconnected. We’re not connecting on a personal level as much as we should.”

Hatch also notes that the emergence of harder, more powerful drugs, like fentanyl and carfentanil, can put addiction into overdrive. “People don’t realize that these are so much more potent, and they will take too much and overdose.”

When people are in emotional and physical pain, they’re more likely to turn to substances if they have access to them. That’s why HCA Healthcare’s “Crush the Crisis” program makes a difference. Not only does raising awareness of the national prescription drug take-back event communicate the dangers of prescription drug addiction, but it also makes the anonymous disposal of unwanted medications easy.

“People are told to use medications only as prescribed and as needed, but let’s say I have a surgery, and I get prescribed 30 pills. I may only take two or three, and I’m good. I don’t need the rest of them,” he says. “It’s important to get the remainder out of my household so that nobody is tempted to use them.”

“Crush the Crisis” events bring awareness that misuse of these substances is harmful. “I think that awareness goes a long way,” Hatch says. “People are inherently good. If they make bad decisions, it’s typically a result of experiences and trauma they’ve experienced. If we can understand where people are coming from, we can meet people where they are and give them the support they need.”