Addiction Medicine
Some physicians dream of performing open-heart surgery or treating generations of patients in family medicine, their paths a straight line to achieving their goals. Others find themselves on a road with twists and turns, oftentimes leading toward a destiny they couldn’t have predicted from the beginning.
Eduardo Javier, MD, found himself in the latter: Board Certified in Internal Medicine and treating patients as a Hospitalist at Eisenhower Health. What he didn’t know, however, was that this field would lead him to his calling in addiction medicine, changing the lives of both patients and medical providers at Eisenhower, and now the community at large.
Recently opening the Eisenhower Charles Rechlin Outpatient Treatment Center in Cathedral City, Dr. Javier leads the center as Program Director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship for both of its programs with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and UCLA.
In 2011, as a recent medical school graduate, Dr. Javier found his education lacking in how to properly care for patients at the height of the opiate epidemic.
“When I was taking care of these patients, I felt inadequate,” explains Dr. Javier.
Dr. Javier called the Betty Ford Center, a part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, to learn how to better address the care of patients in the grips of addiction. Working to absorb what he could as an attending physician he was torn on taking a step back in his career to enter a fellowship program, but after a year of indecision, he chose a Loma Linda University program.
“It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It led me to where I am now,” says Dr. Javier.
In 2019, Eisenhower Health’s School of Graduate Medical Education approached him to open a fellowship program in addiction medicine. Eventually the fellowship program and the outpatient clinic, housed within another clinic, outgrew its home, and with the generous support of Charles Rechlin, Eisenhower’s first addiction medicine clinic emerged.
Designed to be a beacon of hope, providing compassionate, science-based outpatient treatment, the program offers patients access to medication-assisted therapy for alcohol and opioid use disorders, outpatient withdrawal management for all substances, consultation and advice on de-prescribing benzodiazepine and opiates, referral to behavioral treatment to all rehabilitation facilities in the Coachella Valley, relapse prevention, harm-reduction services, and more.
At the helm, Dr. Javier is working to eliminate a stigma around addiction medicine that precedes substandard patient care. Working with associate physicians (residents) and fellows provides that structure to educate providers to understand addiction. One of those students, Karen Antwiler, MD, followed in his footsteps and not only chose a fellowship with Dr. Javier, but also stepped into a faculty role as associate faculty for the program in June 2023.
Dr. Antwiler’s residency in the Center for Family Medicine led her to a rotation at the Betty Ford Center. That introduction to addiction medicine served as a solution to choosing between family medicine and psychiatry. After more rotations with Dr. Javier, she chose to remain at Eisenhower Health to be trained into the myriad of treatment options - outpatient, inpatient, rehabilitation and a methadone clinic. Now, she is teaching fellows about Eisenhower’s robust addiction medicine program as well as continuing to see her patients.
“A lot of patients have their daily lives still going on,” says Dr. Antwiler. “They have jobs; they travel. Being able to provide outpatient care helps them get the evidence-based treatment and services they need.”
“One of the best achievements for us is creating a safe space, an environment for patients and families to be open and feel accepted, and not judged,” says Dr. Javier.
Dr. Antwiler is invested in the program and looking ahead.
“’We’re starting to grow the department more,” she says. “Grow the fellowship more, provide more services to the community.”
To access services, call and schedule an appointment, or walk-in if you need immediate assistance.
Phone: 760.773.4300
Where: 67555 E. Palm Canyon Drive
Suite C113
Cathedral City, CA 92234
Website: EisenhowerHealth.org/Addiction
Three Eisenhower Charles Rechlin Outpatient Treatment Center patients echo the sentiment of Dr. Javier. Each found their way to the center to find recovery through a nonjudgmental and understanding staff. They shared their stories with Healthy Living as a testament to Dr. Javier’s vision and Eisenhower Health’s commitment to patient care.
Michael
Personal trainer and barber Michael, 33, of Palm Desert, works to help others look and feel their best. Working on himself to do the same, however, has been a process. A process that led him from the Coachella Valley and back again - and finally to the care of Eduardo Javier, MD, at the Eisenhower Charles Rechlin Outpatient Treatment Center.
“Dr. Javier is a blessing,” says Michael. “I try to tell as many people that I see who are still struggling or looking for a different path to take rather than just some doctor who has cookie cutter treatment plans. That’s not the way Dr. Javier works. He really dials in to each person and listens while at the same time he stays nonjudgmental even if you don’t want to take his suggestions.”
“The whole team has been nothing but exceptional through this whole journey.”
Michael’s alcohol and drug experimentation began in high school. When his best friend passed away after graduation, drug use became a nearly daily occurrence, numbing his emotions. Michael’s use of prescription pills continued for about two years until he began IV heroin and methamphetamine.
After almost losing an arm to an abscess, he prayed to find his way out of his situation and said he would help another addict or alcoholic if his arm remained intact, and that led him to residential treatment and a subsequent outpatient program. Michael eventually worked for a rehab and sober living company, working a 12-step program, becoming a nationally accredited life coach and a certified personal trainer.
At that time, the fentanyl crisis was emerging and he lost clients, friends and acquaintances to it. The stresses became too difficult, and he put his own recovery aside and ended up using on and off for roughly a year and a half until the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was still using, but my life on the outside wasn’t completely unmanageable,” explains Michael, “but inside I definitely hated who I was becoming, especially when people were looking at me thinking I had it all together. But inside I was falling apart.”
The pandemic took its toll and when his 102-year-old grandma was dying, he was asked to move back home. He helped care for her and was using synthetic fentanyl pills daily, as well as meth, and went online and found help. Michael chose medical intervention - shots - to transition into recovery.
“What really stood out about that program, about Dr. Javier, there was never any judgment,” says Michael, explaining the center encourages him to return, even if he used. “They were compassionate and happy I still showed up.”
After about eight months - the day after barber school graduation - he used. Then, he chose detox treatment and declined shots. Instead, he chose Alcoholics Anonymous and the help of Dr. Javier.
“He has totally won over my trust,” says Michael. “Whatever he suggested, I pretty much did. That gentleman has saved my life for sure.”
“He’s an exceptional individual and a one-of-a-kind doctor. And if anyone else is struggling, they should definitely reach out to that clinic because they know what they’re doing over there.”
Deirdre
Deirdre, 63, of Palm Desert is committed to her job, her dog and her schizophrenic sister. She cannot step away from those who depend on her to focus only on herself.
“I was dying,” Deirdre says. “I didn’t know there was a way out without going into treatment.”
Deirdre found her way out with Eduardo Javier, MD, and a monthly injection.
At 18, Deirdre moved to West Hollywood, Calif., and married and partied with those in the music industry. Until about age 27, she lived the Hollywood lifestyle, including alcohol, cocaine and shooting heroin.
“I’ve had one hell of a life,” says Deirdre. “I’ve flown all over the world. ... I’ve had a crazy life and drugs were involved. It’s the thing we all did.”
She’s no stranger to recovery - five years, eight years, one year, three years - relapses plague her story. Deirdre was taking methadone every day until a doctor in a program told her about Dr. Javier at the Eisenhower Charles Rechlin Outpatient Treatment Center.
“I cried,” says Deirdre. “I had no idea this place at Eisenhower was available for outpatient. I was shocked and I couldn’t believe it.”
Deirdre shared her concerns with Dr. Javier about staying on the shots for her recovery as she is involved with Alcoholics Anonymous as well, but she said Dr. Javier reassured her. He told her, “Sobriety is a way of living. It’s a way of life.”
She is grateful to Dr. Javier and the Center.
“I was so depressed. I was so upset and I didn’t see a way out,” she says.
“I’ve got a fantastic life. I’m accountable. I couldn’t do that if I’d gone into a hospital for a while.”
Darren
At 51, Palm Springs resident Darren has been drinking for most of his life.
Darren started drinking in his early teens during middle school. Like many in the throes of alcoholism, he’s also tried treatment, and about four years ago, Darren was admitted for active alcohol withdrawal. It was then that Darren met Eduardo Javier, MD, who followed his care through to his discharge.
“I don’t know if I would be here today without Dr. Javier,” says Darren. “He saw me every day I was in the hospital until discharge and then I started seeing him on a regular basis [after I left].”
Darren did relapse but continued working with Dr. Javier afterward and has since found success with his recovery, as well as with Alcoholics Anonymous.
Darren attributes his success with the Eisenhower Charles Rechlin Outpatient Treatment Center to individualized care in a supportive and nonjudgmental environment that also requires accountability.
“He has seen me through a lot,” says Darren. “He’s seen me very sick. He’s seen me thriving.”
Regular testing, keeping appointments, checking in on his sobriety date, it’s all part of an atmosphere that instills an investment in the patient’s care and future.
“I never felt when I relapsed that I was a failure,” says Darren. “[The Center] got me back on track.”
Darren chose a daily pill for his medication management and recommends the Center to friends.
“I was really sick and Dr. Javier is very important to me.”