medetomidine<\/a>, a powerful veterinary sedative.\n<\/p>\n\u201cAnd it depends on the patient, but a lot of them are sick,\u201d Marino said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re getting them on the methadone quickly. We\u2019re not having them sit for hours and things that a lot of people will associate with methadone intake.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a team of clinicians, counselors and peer recovery support specialists are working to address a person\u2019s other concerns and needs.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re meeting their housing needs, their hygiene needs, finding them shelters, some light wound care, things like that,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
After about a two-week period of someone coming to the mobile methadone van in Kensington, Merakey staff work to transition people to long-term outpatient programs and brick-and-mortar methadone clinics, but only when they\u2019re ready, Marino said.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a person is medicating consistently, their head starts to clear a little, right? And they start to use [street drugs] less. It\u2019s just what naturally starts to happen. They\u2019re getting here a little quicker, more regularly,\u201d she said. \u201cGetting them to the point where they can leave the area for longer periods. Typically, we\u2019re not transferring somebody till we see those types of changes.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Methadone isn\u2019t for everyone, Marino said. But she\u2019s seen it help many people move away from street drugs and enter addiction recovery. The mobile van just provides an easier way for more people to get that opportunity.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this pathway is super important for high-risk patients when they\u2019re not ready to be overwhelmed with treatment or therapy,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd when we\u2019re transitioning them later, we\u2019re putting them in an environment that they\u2019re more prepared for.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Early success with mobile methadone delivery<\/p>\n
Startup funding for the mobile methadone van came from Philadelphia\u2019s share of settlement money from national lawsuits against drug distributors and manufacturers accused of fueling the opioid addiction epidemic.\n<\/p>\n
Merakey soft-launched the van at the Kensington Wellness Support Center location in October 2025. Between then and this past August, the mobile program has connected 567 people to methadone medication, program leaders said. About 90% of mobile patients were homeless at the time of treatment, they added.\n<\/p>\n
While the van is currently located in Kensington to meet a high demand for services there, Vigderman said the unit is intended to serve the whole city and may add other locations in the future.
\n![\"Inside](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/09-25-2026-k-paynter-merakey-mobile-methadone-unit-5-1024x683.jpg\")
Patients of Merakey\u2019s Mobile Methadone Unit receive treatment through a window from a nurse. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n
A mobile treatment delivery method for methadone was a long time coming in Philadelphia, he said, and greatly needed in a city where hundreds of people<\/a> continue to die from drug overdoses every year.\n<\/p>\n\u201cWhat we\u2019re also excited to show is how we envision ourselves continuing to grow. I think that what we\u2019ve been able to do is really just the beginning,\u201d he said. \u201cI really believe that these mobile services we do are necessary in the continuum of Philadelphia\u2019s treatment system as you look at addressing opioid addiction and the epidemic.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The exams and treatment intake process is thorough but done as quickly as possible, Marino said, because people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-294964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Inside](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/09-25-2026-k-paynter-merakey-mobile-methadone-unit-8-1024x683.jpg\")
Nurses administer methadone behind a window in Merakey\u2019s Mobile Methadone Unit, which has security cameras and officers. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n