Those on the street call Leslie Hayes the Angel of the Española Valley.

Her patients just call her doctor.

As a primary-care physician at El Centro Family Health in Española, Hayes is part of a statewide program to help opiate addicts with a drug called Suboxone, which is smoother and easier to dispense than Methadone.

For Hayes and her 300 patients, it's not about kicking drugs, but keeping with the program and staying afloat, not sinking with addiction.

There's no such thing as a happy heroin addict, she said, but "the majority of patients we're treating are handling their addiction well."

For Hayes, Suboxone is an integral part of state Harm Reduction efforts that give addicts clean needles to keep them safe from hepatitis and Narcan to reverse overdoses.

"They can't think about getting clean, but with clean syringes, Narcan, Suboxone, they can keep on with their life," Hayes said.

She's learned that treating opiate addiction is a chronic problem like diabetes. Once the receptors in the brain change, the cravings are always there — and so the need for ongoing treatment.

Suboxone has some decided advantages over Methadone: It can be prescribed monthly by a physician with pills dispensed at an Española pharmacy. And, unlike Methadone, additional doses of Suboxone do not accentuate the drug. She called it the "ceiling effect."

Many of her patients do not fit the stereotype of a young male addict. One-third are women, and pregnant woman are often very motivated to get their lives back, Hayes said. And many are older people who gradually became addicted to prescription pain medication obtained legally for another ailment.

But she is also seeing more and more patients who obtain pain pills such as OxyContin from friends or family members.

Hayes said a few of her treatment cases do well just by seeing clinic staff — without outside consultations.

But for those who need additional services, there is James Charles, 60, a former crack addict and ex-convict from California who isn't intimidated by what he sees in New Mexico.

He claims to be clean for 18 years and worked in treatment and rehab programs for parolees in California and Fort Stanton. Now he has the title of "Peer Supporter" for Inside Out in Española.

The nonprofit started as part of a program out of Northern New Mexico College. Now it's funded with a six-month grant by behavioral health provider OptumHealth and others.

In addition to Suboxone, which can cost $300 a month and is partly covered by insurance, drug treatment might also mean physician co-pays and urinalysis testing. Inside Out can pick up some of these other costs, as long as grant money holds out, said Kathy Sutherland-Bruaw, executive director. There are also limited funds for housing, job assistance and transportation.

Twice a week at the back of a small strip mall in Española, some 15 people come to share how they are doing and get tips from others. "It's all about working with people who have been there," Charles said.

"It's not our place to judge, it's our place to be here and help," added Bruaw.

El Centro Family Health is at 620 Coronado St. in Española, across from the hospital, 505-753-7395.

Inside Out has offices in Española at 908 Riverside Dr. No. 12 and in Taos at 936 Ranchitos Road.