 On June 25th, 2009, Elizabeth Urquhart, Director of Phoenix House San Diego, was presented with a $10,000 grant award by he Tri-City Healthcare Medical Center Foundation . Below is a photo of Madeleine Rodriguez, MD, president of Tri-City’s Board of Directors, presenting the award to Elizabeth.In the project funded by Tri-City Medical Center, Phoenix House San Diego will be collaborating with the North Coastal Prevention Coalition and Tri-City Medical Center to provide outreach and education to the Oceanside, Carlsbad and Vista communities in San Diego County. The objective will be to link adolescents and their families entering Tri-City’s Emergency Room with substance abuse-related problems to outpatient and residential treatment services in the community. |
Teenagers who struggle with substance abuse are at significant risk of serious health-related problems, such as HIV, STDs, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and pregnancy – not to mention long term complications including developmental and neurological damage, cirrhosis, diabetes, high blood pressure and the various consequences of poor nutrition. Phoenix House’s new outreach and education project is designed to address adolescents’ unique medical and mental health needs and to prevent the escalation of negative patterns of behavior associated with substance abuse that results in other health risks. Culturally-sensitive, Spanish-language services will be available to predominantly Latino adolescents and their limited-English-speaking families along with the appropriate educational materials.