Written by Elizabeth Cairns, Mobilize Recovery Special Projects and Michael Masiowski, MD, reviewed by Code Recover Clinician Advisors, August 2026

Peer recovery support specialist Rob Banghart talks about how addiction is different from other diseases, and the willingness of peers to help.

Whether you are able to start a peer program at your hospital or whether you find other ways to integrate peers into your ED workflow, the recovery community is eager to participate.

To build this network, ED and hospital leadership should reach out to local treatment programs, Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs), and addiction non-profits. These organizations often have trained peers who are looking for opportunities to support individuals in the acute phase of crisis. A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) can establish how these external peers will interact with hospital staff, ensuring HIPAA compliance and patient safety.

Where in-person peers are not available — because of staffing, hours, or a hospital's rural location — telehealth connection to a peer offers a way to reach patients who would otherwise leave the ED without one. Programs using a central peer hub to connect patients by video have demonstrated that this model is feasible in the ED setting and can support post-discharge engagement. (source) Connecting to local recovery resources is often the first step in establishing peer connection in your ED.

Other ways to connect to peers:

Faces and Voices of Recovery is a national organization that maintains a membership program for locally-based RCOs, the Association of Recovery Community Organizations (ARCO).