St. Bernardine Becomes Fourth ED Bridge Program in the Inland Empire

In August, twenty-two additional hospitals joined the California Bridge Program, extending its reach to 52 hospitals, serving 34 California counties. The CA Bridge Program aims to transform addiction treatment state-wide by utilizing medication-assisted treatment (MAT), supporting access to around-the-clock treatment, and approaching substance use disorder as a treatable chronic illness. The increase in participating hospitals provides the crucial support for more emergency rooms and hospitals to directly treat addiction as soon as possible, which has not typically been available in the past and is urgently needed to confront the opioid epidemic. St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino is one of the new participating hospitals, becoming the fourth ED Bridge Program in the Inland Empire.

Serving the community since 1931, the St. Bernardine Medical Center treats over 70,500 patients in their Emergency Department each year. As a member of Dignity Health, St. Bernardine believes in treating the whole patient and improving community health through affordable and compassionate health care, educational programs, support groups, and community events and grants. The IEOCC extends a warm welcome to the St. Bernardine Medical Center as the most recent hospital to join the CA Bridge Program in the Inland Empire.