Changing the Conversation on Addiction

Torrance Memorial’s Substance Use Navigator Program

Sharon Hartwig still remembers the moment everything changed.

After years of methamphetamine and fentanyl use, compounded by homelessness, trauma, and severe heart disease, Sharon arrived at the Torrance Memorial Emergency Department critically ill. Her heart was failing; her body was exhausted, and like so many people living with substance use disorder, she carried the weight of stigma: fear that she would once again be dismissed, judged, or turned away.

Instead, she had a different experience.

By her side was Carol Dunne, one of Torrance Memorial’s Substance Use Navigators. Carol, who has since retired from Torrance Memorial, followed Sharon along her recovery journey, through detox, surgery, ICU, and the long road to treatment placement. She coordinated next steps, advocated relentlessly, and never gave up, even when Sharon herself felt she might not survive.

“There is no possible way, without a shadow of a doubt, that I would be sober without Carol and the care at Torrance Memorial,” Sharon, 54, said through tears as she recalled her long road to recovery. “It saved my life. Torrance Memorial was the absolute instrument in getting me clean. If not, I don’t think I would be sitting here today.”

Today, Sharon is sober, living independently in her own apartment in Redondo Beach, reunited with her family, and planning her future. She credits Torrance Memorial’s Substance Use Navigator (SUN) Program by giving her a chance she never had before.

Her story is not an exception. It is the reason this program exists.

Sharon and her cat are enjoying life in Redondo Beach. Sharon continues to work on her sobriety as she contemplates her next chapter in life.

A New Model for Treating Substance Use Disorder

The SUN Program at Torrance Memorial launched in June 2023, marking a significant shift in how the health system responds to patients with substance use disorders. Historically, patients arriving in most emergency departments with addiction-related issues were often discharged with a list of resources and little support to navigate next steps towards recovery.

The SUN program changed that.

Rather than handing patients a piece of paper and wishing them luck, substance use navigators “meet patients where they’re at” and actively place patients into the appropriate level of care detox, residential treatment, intensive outpatient programs, addiction-specialist therapy, and pain management using a “warm handoff” approach to coordinate care that dramatically increases follow-through.

“We’re not just giving referrals,” said Jerod Nielsen, SUN. “We’re actually getting people into treatment. That’s the gap this program fills.”

The program is rooted in lived experiences. Both Torrance Memorial navigators have personal histories with addiction and recovery, allowing them to meet patients where they are, with empathy, credibility, and trust.

“That shared experience matters,” said Dunne, who lost her partner to a Fentanyl overdose five years ago. “Patients open up in a different way. They know we understand.”

Part of a Statewide Effort: The CA Bridge Program

Torrance Memorial’s SUN Program began as part of the California Bridge (CA Bridge) initiative, a statewide effort to provide low-barrier access to addiction treatment for patients struggling with substance use disorders. “Addiction is a disease, not a moral failing.” Substance use disorders require treatment and compassion like any other life-threatening medical condition.

Launched in 2018 and now active in more than 280 hospitals across California, CA Bridge ensures 24/7 access to evidence-based care in emergency departments, including medications for addiction treatment such as Buprenorphine, a safe, evidence-based medication that binds to the brain’s opioid receptors to relieve cravings and withdrawal symptoms, allowing patients to stabilize, avoid overdose, and engage in treatment without experiencing a “high.”

Key elements of the CA Bridge model include:

• Immediate, low-barrier access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
• Navigation to ongoing treatment and community care
• A culture of harm reduction that prioritizes patient dignity and safety

Research shows that patients who receive navigator support are significantly more likely to be engaged in treatment 30 days after a visit to the emergency room, and that low-barrier MAT is effective even amid widespread Fentanyl exposure.

At Torrance Memorial, the program was embraced through strong collaboration between leadership, Emergency Department physicians, Clinical Social Work, Pharmacy, and community partners.

Torrance Memorial Substance Use Navigators Jerod Nielsen and Carol Dunne.

Shanna Hall, Vice President of Continuum of Care/Chief Quality Officer and early advocate for the program, worked alongside Director of Care Management Lindsey Stone to bring CA Bridge to the hospital and secure grant funding to launch the program.

“We recognized that this was a vulnerable population we were not serving as well as we could,” Hall said. “This program aligned with our mission, our values, and our commitment to health equity.”

A Paradigm Shift in the Emergency Department

For Emergency Department champion Gretchen Lent, MD, the program represented a fundamental change in care delivery.

“Starting patients on Buprenorphine in the Emergency Department can be lifesaving,” Dr. Lent said. “It protects patients from overdose in the days following discharge, when the risk is highest, and gives them a real chance at recovery.”

With training, policy updates, and pharmacy collaboration, Torrance Memorial implemented MAT and began providing free Naloxone (Narcan) to patients and community members: no questions asked. Naloxone is a life-saving medication that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses by blocking opioids’ effects on the brain, restoring breathing and buying critical time for emergency care.

“This medication works quickly, safely, and effectively,” Dr. Lent said. “Compared to many conditions we treat, the return on investment — human and societal — is extraordinary.”

Just as importantly, the program has helped dismantle long-standing stigma.

“Patients at times were labeled as ‘frequent flyers’ or ‘drug seekers,” said Stone. “This program forces us to confront our biases and treat substance use disorder as the medical disease it is.”

On-the-Ground Impact

Substance Use Navigators primarily meet patients in the Emergency Department, often at moments of crisis, withdrawal, or overdose, when intervention matters most.

On an average day, Torrance Memorial’s navigators see five to eight patients: on busy days, more than 10. They follow patients beyond discharge, ensuring placement in treatment settings, that patients attend appointments, and maintaining contact when barriers arise.

Sometimes success comes quickly. Other times, it takes repeated encounters.

“We keep showing up,” Dunne said. “Not everyone is ready the first time. But when they are, we’re there.”

“We have the opportunity to change a life, and we get to do that on a daily basis.”

That persistence has led to measurable reductions in repeat emergency room visits among high utilizers, and immeasurable improvements in lives reclaimed.

Beyond the Hospital Walls

The program’s success depends on deep community partnerships with detox facilities, residential and outpatient programs, mental health providers, pain management specialists, and housing organizations.

Navigators regularly meet with community partners, maintain active referral pathways, and host an annual Substance Use Symposium, bringing together clinicians, treatment providers, and people with lived experience to share best practices and education.

“These relationships are everything,” Nielsen said. “Recovery doesn’t happen in isolation.”

Torrance Memorial has long recognized the need for substance use treatment. Since 1990, the Thelma McMillen Recovery Center at Torrance Memorial has been dedicated to helping South Bay residents successfully overcome the pattern of substance use, abuse and addiction. Moe Gelbart, PhD, the center's executive director since its inception, believes in the importance of "treating the whole person, not just the addiction," and has personally seen the program make lasting changes in the lives of more than 4,000 clients.

Eric, 69, a patient at Thelma, has struggled with alcohol use disorder for decades. He credits the SUN program for providing him with the support he needed to finally get sober.

“I tried to stop drinking many times, but I couldn’t on my own,” he said. “The withdrawal was so bad. I had to have a drink first thing in the morning to stop from shaking.”

With help from Torrance Memorial care teams, he was able to detox in the hospital following a trip to the Emergency Department. Nielsen helped him enroll in Thelma McMillen even before he was discharged. At the time of his interview, he was four months sober, had quit smoking and was attending regular recovery meetings with the help of his counselor at Thelma McMillen.

“I’m feeling a lot better, and healthier,” he said. “I want to keep this going this time.”

A Commitment That Continues

What began as a grant-funded pilot is now a permanent part of Torrance Memorial’s care model.

For Sharon Hartwig, that commitment meant survival.

“If Carol hadn’t been there, I would have ripped out my IV and left,” Hartwig said. “I was dope sick. She never gave up on me.”

Hartwig is now considering pursuing a career as a substance use counselor or going back into the medical field. She was once a member of the Torrance Memorial family before falling into addiction.

“Now that I have my life back, I’m not going to waste it.”

Torrance Memorial’s SUN Program is more than a response to the opioid epidemic. It is a declaration that every patient deserves dignity, evidence-based care, and hope.

And for many, it is a difference between another discharge and a second chance.