ABOUT AEGIS TREATMENT CENTERS, LLC.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Aegis Treatment Centers operates 25 outpatient addiction treatment clinics around California. Like all Aegis centers, the Modesto clinic offers outpatient medication-assisted treatment. The facility is located in northern Modesto, in inland mid-California.
Most clients are over 18 and have a history of at least a year of opiate abuse.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
The admission process takes two to three hours. Walk-ins are accepted, but Aegis advises potential clients to schedule an appointment if possible. All clients receive a medical examination on admission and at regular intervals thereafter.
Aegis facilities use Suboxone and methadone programs to assist individuals struggling with opioid assistance in safely and permanently coming off their drug of choice. Treatment programs range in length from 21 days, for short-term detox, to 18 months+, for extended treatment. The most successful model is short-term treatment lasting six to 18 months.
Aegis is keen to point out that treatment does not consist of prescriptions alone: rather, the organization offers multidisciplinary programs that combine medications with intensive evidence-based therapy, social work, case management, and education. While medications stabilize clients in the short term, the center’s therapeutic services treat the addiction and heal underlying co-occurring disorders. Counseling covers topics including PTSD, ADHD, anger, grief, stress, and other co-occurring disorders. In addition, social workers assist clients with any judicial matters, relationships with families and friends, referrals to community resources, and any other matters beyond the facility itself that might be of use.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The team includes physicians, dispensary nurses, medical assistants, and social workers. The single alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the facility two out of five stars for its staff’s level of training and experience.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
The single alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave mixed feedback. Though they gave Aegis Treatment Centers, LLC. four stars for the effectiveness of its treatment and five stars for its counseling options, and wrote: “The councillors are very helpful and caring with their individual patients,” they also indicated that they would not recommend the program. “Its money driven…if you don’t have payment when it’s due they put you on immediate fee detox,” they added, giving the facility three stars for its family participation, two stars for its ability to treat co-occurring disorders, and one star for its holistic offerings.
Secondary sites yielded mostly positive feedback at the time of this writing, with a single three-star review on YellowPages.com, and on Google, a four-star average rating based on eight reviews.
The Google reviews were polarized, consisting of six five-star ratings and two one-star reviews, which variously cited rude front-office staff and described the center as “severely understaffed,” with “zero dr advice, absolutly useless and judgemental counselors.” The positive reviewers on both Google and YellowPages.com repeatedly noted that the facility had helped them to stop taking opiates and even saved their lives. “Been going there almost 2 years and has gotten me completely off heroin/opiates and even my other drug addictions. Life changing. I would highly recommend. Give it a chance,” J.C. wrote in a representative review on Google.
In isolated criticisms in otherwise positive reviews, alumni posting on these secondary sites raised concerns about client confidentiality and the possibility of remaining addicted to methadone once the primary opiate addiction has passed.
WHAT STAFF SAY
Staff at the Modesto facility posting on Indeed gave mostly positive feedback at the time of this writing, with a three-star, a four-star, and a five-star rating. The reviewers repeatedly praised the management and their fellow staff. “A day at work includes meeting with Patients and trying to assist them in their efforts to adapt to a drug free lifestyle. I learned how to interact with drug addicts who are attempting to get clean & sober,” one reviewer wrote in a particularly descriptive review.
FINANCING
Aegis accepts Medi-Cal and Medicare, and is an approved provider for major HMOs, PPOs, and independent practice associations such as Kaiser Permanent, Health Net, and United Health. At present, 50 percent of clients have their costs paid by Medicare or Medi-Cal. For self-paying clients, there’s a sliding fee scale that offers up to 50 percent off the official rate.
However, the single alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the facility one out of five stars for its affordability.