08/18/2026
UT Medical, a sponsor of Metro Drug Coalition’s International Overdose Awareness Day, is working to support substance use disorder recovery in East Tennessee.
“Helping all people through chronic diseases is important to us as other conditions,” said Dr. Julia van Zyl with UT Medical. “Substance use disorder is something that affects probably everybody.” It may not be you, but perhaps a family member or a loved one you know has suffered from substance use disorder.
Through UT Medical’s Bridge+ program, the organization has learned that social factors like economic stability, access to healthcare, and safe housing impact someone’s likelihood of staying in recovery once they enter.
“Our Bridge+ program has expanded to include closing those social needs gaps as we find them, housing, food, transportation, financial ability to get a job,” van Zyl explained.
Efforts like Bridge+ are a powerful step in the right direction, but the battle of preventing deaths by overdose is far from over.
“We’re still not at zero yet, so we’re taking the stance of fighting to zero.” van Zyl concluded.
