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Kate VanRensselear, Advanced CASAC

Director
BestSelf Behavioral Health
Buffalo, New York

Kate VanRensselaer is one of the originators and current Program Director for WNY Opioid Addiction Treatment Hotline. The program covers the 8 designated counties of Western New York State and provides rapid access to medication assisted treatment via telehealth. This process includes, per the client’s request, linkage to a designated MAT provider and a long-term treatment program of the client’s choice. It operates twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year and has saved countless lives since it went live in May of 2022.

Kate’s career in the SUD field began in 2017 when she changed her vocational path and chose to pursue her passion, thusly going back to school and achieving a Bachelor of Science degree in the Substance Use Disorder field. After a period as a counselor in rural areas of New York state and witnessing, firsthand, the decimation the opioid epidemic was having on her community and others, she attained an Advanced CASAC. This led to a front-line counselor position with a mobile treatment team focusing on OTP. Because of her success in this work, in 2022 she was asked to be the Director of a brand-new SAMHSA grant for Opioid addiction treatment via telehealth. This unique and innovative program has led her to face new experiences and multiple challenges. But, due to the commitment she has maintained since she went to work in in this field, the vocation she pursued has now become a calling – one she answers on a daily basis – and the program she leads has flourished.

Presently the program is a resounding success at providing consumers with rapid access to Suboxone virtually, via simple and easy to access telehealth, with a provider from The MATTERS Network and/or BestSelf Behavioral Health. The program has achieved their 5-year expected numbers in Year One; 5 months after going live. And it continues to grow exponentially every day has connected numerous people struggling with opioid addiction with lifesaving medication, access to services 24/7, 365 days a year, without judgment and, in some cases, even without insurance as a voucher can be provided. This program, under Kate’s leadership, has become a model of efficiency, compassion and success.

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