Hoquiam drug treatment clinic to open mid-April

April 01--Patients seeking treatment for opioid addiction will soon have another option, with Evergreen Treatment Services opening a clinic in downtown Hoquiam.

The clinic will provide local patients the opportunity to maintain normal, healthy lifestyles while receiving treatment, said Dennis Malmer of the state Department of Social and Health Services'Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery. Currently, about 50 Medicaid patients travel to Lacey nearly every day to receive medication and counselling.

"If you spend that many hours a day for dosing, how do you spend any time with education and employment?" Malmer said. "You're spending all your time in a van. What a terrible way to live."

The clinic will be located at 804 Levee St. and is scheduled to open in mid-April. The clinic will serve up to 350 patients, and the company is already enrolling people in the program, said Molly Carney, executive director of Evergreen Treatment Services.

Prospective patients can learn more about the program by calling the company's South Sound Clinic at 360-413-6910. Treatment can be covered by Medicaid or insurance, or paid for with cash.

Patients at the Hoquiam clinic will be treated with a combination of medication and counseling, Carney said. Both Methadone and Suboxone will be used as opioid replacement medications, and patients will visit the clinic Monday through Saturday to receive their doses. Patients will be able to take home their Sunday doses.

Carney said visiting the facility on a daily basis gives the patients a sense of stability, and they're more likely to be successful. But the treatment isn't just medicinal. Patients will be required to attend weekly counselling sessions. Addictions to tobacco and marijuana will also be addressed in counselling sessions.

A monthly drug screening will also be required to make sure patients are staying on track. Positive drug tests will lead to changes in the individual patient's program, but patients will be turned away if they test positive nine times in 12 months. Patients are given some leniency because their chances of success are higher if they stay in the program longer.

"It's true, the longer someone stays in treatment the better off they are," Carney said.

But that doesn't mean treatment is necessarily a cure. Some patients are able to stop using Methadone and Suboxone after four or five years, others remain in treatment for decades.

"Opioid dependence is really considered a chronic medical condition at this time, similar to hypertension or diabetes," Malmer said.

Treatment can, however, help people with addictions lead normal lives, Carney said. The Evergreen Treatment Services clinic in Seattle treats employees from Microsoft, Boeing and the City of Seattle.

Patients will only visit the clinic during morning hours -- between 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The early start will allow them to work normal schedules.

At a March 20 public hearing, which was hosted at Grays Harbor Public Health and Social Services in Aberdeen, only Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers had any objections to the center opening in Hoquiam.

"To be honest, my officers are not thrilled with this program at all," Myers said.

But Carney said local law enforcement won't have to worry about the clinic. Safety officers will monitor the site from inside and outside, and medications will be stored in a safe.

"We have not had an issue in any of our clinics, and we hope that will be the case here," Carney said.

Malmer, whose department oversees drug treatment clinics statewide, said he hasn't received any complaints from law enforcement regarding Evergreen Treatment Services facilities.

"We just are not getting the complaints you might expect," Malmer said.

Carney and her staff hope to announce an opening date soon. A total of 14 employees will work at the clinic, most of whom are from Grays Harbor County.

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