UK HealthCare’s SMART Clinic offers support for addiction recovery
The University of Kentucky Public Relations & Strategic Communications Office provides a weekly health column available for use and reprint by news media. This week’s column is by Danielle Anderson, M.D., addiction medicine and family medicine at UK’s SMART Clinic and Gopalkumar Rakesh, M.D., psychiatry and addiction medicine at UK’s SMART Clinic.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 9, 2026) — Asking for help with substance use can be difficult but figuring out where to turn for that help shouldn’t be.
UK HealthCare’s Supportive Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Treatment (SMART) Clinic provides addiction treatment alongside psychiatric and routine healthcare. The SMART Clinic’s team of providers specializing in addiction address not only substance use but also mental and physical health concerns that may affect a person’s recovery.
The SMART Clinic treats people experiencing alcohol and substance use disorders, including disorders involving opioids, benzodiazepines, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Patients can receive addiction treatment, psychiatric care, primary care, therapy and medication management through the program. Treatment can also address conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder.
This approach recognizes that substance use does not always occur in isolation. Mental health concerns and past trauma can contribute to addiction or make recovery more challenging, which is why the SMART Clinic incorporates mental health treatment into its approach to recovery.
Most importantly, patients do not need a referral to seek care at the SMART Clinic. Patients can self-refer or receive a provider referral and typically can be seen within three days.
When someone calls for an appointment, clinic staff ask about the person’s history of substance use and what they are looking for from treatment so they can be paired with an appropriate provider. During the first appointment, patients will meet with core members of the care team to discuss their needs and determine a path forward.
Steps to take when seeking help for addiction
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Recognize the need for help. Substance use may be affecting a person’s health, relationships, work or daily life.
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Talk to a health care professional. Contact the SMART Clinic, no referral necessary. Call 859-562-2356.
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Find the right treatment and support. The SMART Clinic can create treatment plans tailored to the individual’s substance use, health needs, circumstances and recovery goals.
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Build a support system and plan for ongoing recovery. The SMART Clinic can help arrange counseling, follow-up appointments and medications when appropriate. It’s important to note a return to substance use does not mean treatment has failed. It may mean the treatment plan needs to be reassessed or adjusted.
The SMART Clinic is in UK HealthCare’s Fountain Court facility, 245 Fountain Court in Lexington. Make an appointment by calling 859-562-2356. No referral is required.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or experiencing a life-threatening emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
UK HealthCare is the hospitals and clinics of the University of Kentucky. But it is so much more. It is more than 10,000 dedicated healthcare professionals committed to providing advanced subspecialty care for the most critically injured and ill patients from the Commonwealth and beyond. It also is the home of the state’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that cares for the tiniest and sickest newborns and the region’s only Level 1 trauma center.
As an academic research institution, we are continuously pursuing the next generation of cures, treatments, protocols and policies. Our discoveries have the potential to change what’s medically possible within our lifetimes. Our educators and thought leaders are transforming the healthcare landscape as our six health professions colleges teach the next generation of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals, spreading the highest standards of care. UK HealthCare is the power of advanced medicine committed to creating a healthier Kentucky, now and for generations to come.