ST. ALBANS — When people addicted to opiates in Franklin and Grand Isle counties seek help, they’re forced to travel to treatment hubs in South Burlington or Newport.
The trip can be onerous, even for those with access to cars, and can further complicate the recovery process for drug users who may also be working or looking for a job, or caring for children or other family members. Some also face restrictions as a result of probation or parole.
Medicaid, the low-income health program, provides transportation in some cases, but the hours spent on a daily pilgrimage for medication-assisted treatment and counseling can make it nearly impossible to lead a more normal life while in recovery, according to treatment providers.
Bob Bick, CEO of Howard Center, which operates the South Burlington hub, described the travel as incredibly disruptive for people just starting out in recovery.
The lack of service hubs in the region is also a driving force behind the waiting lists at those in South Burlington and Newport, said Barbara Cimaglio, deputy commissioner of health.
Health Department figures from last year show the average wait for a treatment slot in South Burlington was 358 days, and in Newport it was 70 days. South Burlington alone accounts for the lion’s share of people waitlisted statewide.
That’s why the Health Department is planning to open a hub in St. Albans in January, Cimaglio says.
“We think it’s desperately needed up here,” said Ted Mable, executive director of Northwestern Counseling and Support Services, which works with people in Franklin County who have substance abuse and mental health issues at the same time.
After examining where people are traveling from to get treatment or where they are currently waitlisted, state officials agreed. The Health Department estimates that close to 250 people from Franklin and Grand Isle counties are receiving or seeking treatment, Cimaglio said.
Howard Center’s Bick said roughly 225 people are on the waiting list for the Chittenden Clinic, as the South Burlington hub is known.
The current House-passed budget that the Senate will take up in the coming weeks includes $450,000 in the Health Department’s Medicaid budget to contract with a third party to open a hub in St. Albans. That’s enough to pay for six months of hub services, with the annualized cost of the additional treatment site coming close to $1 million.
The Health Department already put out an information request to gauge the interest of treatment providers in the region for operating the new hub, Cimaglio said, and released a formal request for proposals Friday.
Bick confirmed that Howard Center plans to enter a joint bid to operate a hub with Northwestern Medical Center, the hospital in St. Albans. Howard Center is already the state’s designated service provider for adult substance abuse services in Franklin and Grand Isle.
Franklin County Sen. Dustin Degree, a St. Albans Republican, said greater access to opiate treatment is overdue in his county. Traveling hours to get help creates unnecessary barriers for people who may already face problems in their family life or have difficulty holding down a job, he said.
“We’ve been dealing with this for a long time up our way,” Degree said. “I think this is honestly something we could have used five years ago.”
At a recent legislative breakfast with constituents, he said, some people raised concerns that a new treatment hub would attract drug addicts to Franklin County. But Degree said anyone paying attention knows they’re already there — along with the ancillary property and other crimes driven by addiction.
“These are folks taking an active role in their recovery, people who are trying to break the cycle,” Degree said. Making treatment available close to home will increase the likelihood they’ll succeed, which will ultimately reduce crime and bring people back into the workforce, he added.
Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said he was also encouraged to hear about the state’s plans for a new treatment hub. Del Pozo has expressed interest in following the city of Montpelier to implement a program where drug users can surrender small amounts of drugs or paraphernalia and get a ride to treatment, without facing charges.
“If we’re going to extend to citizens with opiate addiction a promise that we’ll take a medical approach rather than a law enforcement approach, then we have to be able to fullfill that promise,” del Pozo said.
That’s not something his officers can do while there’s still a waiting list for treatment at the Chittenden Clinic, he said.
