T-L Photo/KAILEY CARPINO Dennis Eagleeye, president and licensed counselor of Eagle Healthworks, shows off his new office.

BRIDGEPORT — A new outpatient addiction treatment clinic called Eagle Healthworks is opening today in Bridgeport.

The new clinic is located at 300 Howard St., Suite 2, Bridgeport in the Dlesk Professional Building.

Dennis Eagleeye, president and licensed counselor, said he noticed a need for addiction services in the area.

“One of my nurse practitioners is from these parts, and she had mentioned the area, and so I thought, well, I’ll come down here and take a look. When I did, and I went into the research, it didn’t seem like there was a ton of services there,” he said.

Eagleeye said he noticed that St. Clairsville had “the lion’s share of the services,” but services in the Bridgeport, Martins Ferry and Bellaire area were scarce. He said he used the same process when choosing his other two locations in Thornville and Byesville, Ohio.

“There wasn’t a place that does really what we do. And really, we’re an outpatient addiction treatment organization where we are a counseling company first, although we do prescribe medications to help with opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. We treat stimulant use disorder and pretty much any addiction that’s substance-related,” Eagleeye said.

Eagleeye noted that addiction is more common than some people think.

“Most people know somebody” with an addiction, he said.

He said the clinic will provide counseling or therapy for all clients. He said all clients will start in individual counseling as opposed to group counseling.

“Group counseling, especially in early recovery, is kind of useless. It’s very difficult to get clients to trust the process, trust the therapist, and they usually don’t like to open up. So the reason we decided to do individual is because we can have that one-on-one relationship with the individual where they feel comfortable, they can open up and discuss whatever issues are going on. Group counseling is a good thing, but not in the early stages,” Eagleeye said.

He added that medication will be used only to treat more severe cases.

“We do a full evaluation with a nurse practitioner to determine whether medications are even necessary and if it is, what to prescribe,” Eagleeye said.

He said the main medications the clinic prescribes are Buprenorphine, Zubsolv, Sublocade, Suboxone and Vivitrol.

Eagleeye said the clinic has a full laboratory so that all drug testing can be done in-house. The clinic will also check clients’ vital signs.

He said the clinic will treat people with mild depression, but he will refer patients to mental health specialists for more severe or complex mental health issues.

Eagleeye stressed that the clinic is for outpatient care, meaning it is not a rehabilitation center.

The clinic will treat hepatitis C. Eagleeye said the treatment takes place over 12 weeks. He said he has treated many hepatitis C patients over the past three years at his other locations, and the treatment has had a 100% cure rate.

Eagleeye said hepatitis C treatment is entirely covered by insurance. He also said that patients do not need a referral from a doctor or even an appointment to receive the treatment. They can just walk into the clinic.

He also said that the Byesville location recently started providing recovery housing programs. He hopes to expand those services to all locations including in Bridgeport.

Eagleeye said the Bridgeport clinic will open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays only for the first few weeks. He said he will be working at the Thornville and Byesville locations during the rest of the week and hopes to be open more days in Bridgeport once the clinic is at full staff.

Eagleeye said clients can still call the office on days when the clinic is not open. He said clients can leave a voicemail and he can receive it at his other locations. He hopes to offer telehealth appointments as well.

Eagleeye plans to have four or five employees at the clinic once it gets 10-15 clients. He said the office is small, so he plans to hire a maximum of seven people depending on how busy the clinic becomes.

Eagleeye said appointments are not necessary, but clients who do make an appointment will be in and out of the clinic more quickly. He said he tries to get clients’ appointments completed in less than an hour with minimal wait time.

Eagleeye said the clinic accepts Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and self-pay.

“We don’t turn anybody away,” he said.

According to a press release from Eagle Healthworks: “Our mission is to provide supportive services for anyone 18 or over seeking help with dependence on substances of abuse like heroin, fentanyl, alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, benzodiazepines and any other opioids, stimulants or sedatives causing problems in their lives.”

Eagleeye said the clinic is fully certified with Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the lab is certified through the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.

“Everything we do is completely legit and accredited. Usually, what I’ll hear from other businesses when we move in, they’re worried that we’re just going to fly in here, prescribe a bunch of meds and run out. But we are a legitimate, fully certified business,” he said.

Eagleeye said he hopes to build connections with the community and neighboring businesses.

“We want to be a part of the community. We want to be good neighbors to everybody that’s around here, not just our clients but other businesses and the other entities that are here,” he added.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 740-298-7040 or visit eaglehealthworks.com.