After Nearly 150 years, Hartford Dispensary is Laying Down New Roots

October 3, 2018

MANCHESTER, CT – October 03, 2018 – The Hartford Dispensary, one of Connecticut’s leading addiction treatment organizations and oldest nonprofit agencies, announced today that it is changing its name to Root Center for Advanced Recovery.


“In response to the exploding opioid crisis, we have grown to include 10 locations across Connecticut, and have expanded our addiction and mental health services,” said President & CEO Steven Zuckerman. “As we continue to grow and add services to meet our communities’ needs, we wanted a new name— to acknowledge that we are and will continue to expand beyond what we have been known for.”


The Root Center for Advanced Recovery name pays homage to one of the Hartford Dispensary’s founders, Dr. Joseph E. Root, who treated patients who could not afford private medical care from his Pearl Street office. The Hartford Dispensary was established in 1871 as Connecticut’s first outpatient medical clinic.


After 100 years of providing diverse medical services, the organization’s leadership saw a critical unmet need and in 1971, created a program exclusively focused on treating heroin addiction. Over the past 47 years, the organization has remained focused on this mission and become one of the leading opioid treatment organizations in the country.


Today, the Root Center for Advanced Recovery offers addiction treatment services that include medication assisted treatment, intensive outpatient counseling, and mental health services for nearly 6,000 patients per day. In addition, the organization is adding services for adolescents and to treat a diverse array of emerging addictions.



Headquartered in Manchester, the Root Center for Advanced Recovery has clinics in: Bristol, Hartford (3 locations), Manchester, New Britain, New London, Norwich, Torrington, and Willimantic. In addition, the Root Center is actively working to add new locations across the state to serve more communities and to further partner with other medical professionals who are facing growing addiction challenges with their patients.


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