If you or someone you care about is struggling with substance use, UK HealthCare's SMART Clinic in Lexington treats alcohol and substance use disorders alongside psychiatric and routine healthcare — and you do not need a referral to be seen. Patients typically get an appointment within three days of calling, according to the clinic's doctors writing in the Northern Kentucky Tribune.
SMART stands for Supportive Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Treatment. The clinic's team treats disorders involving opioids, benzodiazepines, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as alcohol. Because substance use rarely happens in isolation, care also covers mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder.
Here is what the clinic offers, and the steps its own physicians recommend for getting started.
What does the SMART Clinic actually provide?
Patients can receive addiction treatment, psychiatric care, primary care, therapy and medication management through one program. That combined model matters, the clinic's doctors explain, because mental health concerns and past trauma can contribute to addiction or make recovery harder. Treating both together is built into the approach. Readers following this should also see Nutritionist vs Dietician: Which One Do You Need?.
The clinic is located at UK HealthCare's Fountain Court facility, 245 Fountain Court, in Lexington. Appointments are made by calling 859-562-2356.
How do you start? Four steps from the clinic's own doctors
Dr. Danielle Anderson, an addiction and family medicine doctor at the clinic, and Dr. Gopalkumar Rakesh, a psychiatry and addiction medicine doctor, outline a simple sequence:
- Recognize the need for help. That means noticing whether substance use may be affecting health, relationships, work or daily life.
- Talk to a healthcare professional. You can contact the SMART Clinic directly — no referral is necessary. Call 859-562-2356.
- Find the right treatment and support. The clinic builds treatment plans tailored to a person's substance use, health needs, circumstances and recovery goals.
- Build a support system and plan for ongoing recovery. The clinic can help arrange counseling, follow-up appointments and medications when appropriate.
What happens when you call?
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. That information is used to pair the patient with an appropriate provider.
At the first appointment, patients meet with core members of the care team to discuss their needs and determine a path forward. You can self-refer, or a provider can refer you; either route works, and the typical wait is about three days. We covered a connected angle in Vitamin D and Athletes: Who Actually Needs a Supplement.
What if a return to use happens?
The clinic's doctors are direct on this point: a return to substance use does not mean treatment has failed. It may mean the treatment plan needs to be reassessed or adjusted. Recovery is treated as an ongoing process, not a pass-or-fail test.
If there is an immediate crisis
The clinic's guidance is unambiguous: 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. The SMART Clinic is for treatment planning and ongoing care, not emergency response.
Asking for help with substance use can be difficult, as the clinic's physicians note — but figuring out where to turn should not be. For readers tracking broader health system coverage, our health news section follows access-to-care stories like this one, and our recovery coverage looks at what rebuilding health looks like day to day.
