Using the Resources of AA in Treating Alcoholics in a General Hospital

At Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital a small number of staff and a large number of volunteers from Alcoholics Anonymous have collaborated to meet the treatment needs of the community's alcoholics. Recovered alcoholics serve as volunteers staffing a friendship room, located close to the emergency room and open weeknights between 6 and 10 p.m. They also provide counseling on AA, escort patients to AA meetings, help in postdischarge follow-up, and act as casefinders in the community. The hospital staff have become more aware of problems of alcoholism and are better able to treat alcoholics and to provide counseling and referral services.