ROCKPORT (AP) – Penobscot Bay Medical Center plans to establish a network of drug treatment clinics in the midcoast area by summer, hospital officials announced.

The plan announced Monday would establish places where doctors would prescribe buprenorphine, a drug marketed as Suboxone or Subutex that is seen as an alternative to methadone in easing the physical and mental withdrawals from heroin.

The hospital now provides substance abuse counseling for adults through its Choice Skyward and Mid-Coast Substance Abuse Counseling programs.