Does a addiction medicine / mat clinic in District of Columbia need a medical director?

Q: Does a addiction medicine / mat clinic in District of Columbia need a medical director?

Yes. The rule calls the role Medical Director. Physician — 42 CFR § 8.12(b)(1) requires the program to 'formally designate a program sponsor and medical director.'

💊 Addiction Medicine / MAT Clinic · District of Columbia

District of Columbia: what a medical director of a addiction medicine / mat clinic must do

Whether District of Columbia requires a physician medical director for a addiction medicine / mat clinic, the qualifications you need, and the duties the rule assigns.

Medical directorMedical director required

Title in the ruleMedical Director

Research date2026-09-03

Qualifications

Physician — 42 CFR § 8.12(b)(1) requires the program to 'formally designate a program sponsor and medical director.'

Duties the rule assigns

Assume responsibility for all medical and behavioral health services performed by the OTP (§8.12(b)(2))
Ensure the OTP complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations (§8.12(b)(2))
Make/approve take-home medication eligibility determinations (§8.12(i)(2))

Notes

FEDERAL requirement (42 CFR Part 8, SAMHSA) applying to any certified Opioid Treatment Program (methadone/OTP clinic) regardless of jurisdiction, including DC. DC's own DBH-administered OTP certification rules likely echo this, but this pass could not retrieve DC Municipal Regulations full text (dcregs.dc.gov serves only metadata/TOC pages to automated fetches) to confirm a DC-specific citation.

Sources (1)

42 CFR § 8.12(b) — Opioid treatment program certification standards, medical director designation and dutiessecondary

Every agreement District of Columbia names · Addiction Medicine / MAT Clinic in other states