Verily builds US drug rehab campus amid opioid crisis

Alphabet’s life sciences division Verily is building a rehab campus to help combat the opioid crisis, according to a press report.

CNBC reported that Verily, a subsidiary of the company that also owns Google, is to join two health networks, Kettering Health Network and Premier Health, to create a non-profit organisation called OneFifteen.

The campus will be developed by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and will offer both inpatient and outpatient services.

According to CNBC Verily is aware that there is no single solution to treating substance abuse.

The centre will therefore offer a range of strategies including intensive rehabilitation, and drop-in meetings.

Verily will first focus on understanding what works in the clinic, and track patients to see what continues to work when they leave.

The company will use a “variety of means” to monitor patients said a senior clinical scientist of behavioural health at Verily in an interview.

Patients would have to consent to being monitored.

Samaritan Behavioural Health, an operating partner of OneFifteen, will provide the clinical care and will supply the technology analysing and measuring the effectiveness of interventions.

Danielle Schlosser, senior clinical scientist of behavioral health at Verily, told CNBC in an interview: “We’re really on this quest to fundamentally transform behavioural health.

“I think anybody working in this field should be excited because we’re going to see change with the level of investment going into this initiative.”

OneFifteen CEO Marti Taylor said that one long-term aim is to change how addiction is treated and how providers are paid – although he gave no further details.

Taylor said: “Because we have facilities, an entire ecosystem and data, we’ll be able to take a more holistic understanding of a person’s health, both inside and outside as we follow them long-term.

“It’s pretty unique being able to understand their care and advance evidence-based treatment.”

OneFifteen will begin inpatient and outpatient care this spring, and the campus in Dayton, Ohio is expected to be complete next year.

Verily is also working on a range of wearables that aim to help people live more healthy lives, such as ‘smart shoes’ that can track a user’s weight and movement, and detect falls.