Companies compete to open meth clinic in Southern Vt.
Companies compete to open meth clinic in Southern Vt.
May 13, 2006
By Dave Reed Herald Staff
SPRINGFIELD - Two out-of-state companies are interested in opening a
methadone clinic in the Windham and Windsor county region, citing a growing
number of heroin and opiate addicts in southeastern Vermont.
But Vermont's deputy health commissioner, Barbara Cimaglio, said while her
department hasn't taken a formal stand yet on the two proposals, the real need
for such treatment programs lies in the southwestern part of the state, the
corridor between Rutland and Bennington.
The two companies, BAART Behavioral Health Services of San Francisco, and
Habit Management Inc. of Boston, have filed competing applications with the
state Department of Banking, Insurance and Health Care Administration, in
anticipation of the certificate of need process.
While Habit Management, which operates a methadone clinic in West Lebanon,
N.H., has focused on the Brattleboro area, BAART has taken a broader approach,
saying the clinic could be located anywhere between Springfield and Brattleboro.
BAART, despite being based in San Francisco, has Vermont experience: It
has operated two mobile methadone clinics in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom towns
of St. Johnsbury and Newport for the past year.
Cimaglio, who works for the Department of Health, said Gov. James Douglas'
new budget includes funding for only 50 new treatment spaces for addicts.
"I think Vermont in general has a high need in the area of opiates. We
fall in the top tier of states with an opiate problem," she said.
"There's a serious opiate problem, and a growing prescription drug
problem," she said, saying the Health Department got its information from
reports of overdoses and people coming in for treatment.
The Department of Health is responsible for public funding for substance
abuse and addiction, she said.
According to recent surveys, in 2000, 438 people identified opiates as
their addiction source. In 2005, while the numbers are incomplete, 1,591
Vermonters made a similar designation, she said.
According the BAART's letter of intent, the company estimates another
1,000 to 2,000 Vermonters have opioid addiction problems.
"As a result of such widespread addiction, Vermont has experienced an
increase in crime, physical illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, as well
as increases in social problems; namely family violence and unemployment," wrote
Evan Kletter, chief executive officer of BAART.
She said in Windham County, the number of people seeking publicly funded
treatment jumped from 32 to 99 people in that same time period. In Windsor
County, the numbers jumped from 13 to 74.
"It's obvious our numbers are growing quickly. We've begun treatment
services in Chittenden and the Northeast Kingdom," Cimaglio said.
Cimaglio said the Department of Health would prefer a facility in either
Bennington or Rutland counties because those residents have to travel great
distances to get treatment.
She said she knew of at least one person from Bennington who traveled
daily to the new methadone clinic at Fletcher-Allen Health Care in Burlington
for treatment.
"What we have said publicly is our priority area is Rutland-Bennington
because the access is not as good. The clinics in New York are overflowing, and
are not taking out-of-state people at all. We are looking at a combination of
need and accessibility, a travel is a very big factor," she said.
"We're looking at all of those factors and not made any commitment," she
said.
Addicts on the eastern side of the state have treatment options out of
state, she said, either in New Hampshire at one of several clinics, or in
Greenfield, Mass., where most of the region's addicts now seek treatment.
Jennifer Garson, a BISHCA spokeswoman, said it was unclear whether the
proposed clinics - one mobile, the other not - would need a certificate of need
simply based on their size of its proposed operating budget.
If the clinic's budget is under $500,000, it is exempt from the CON
process, she said. So far, both proposals are below that figure, she said.
Repeated attempts to reach spokesmen for either Habit Management or BAART
were unsuccessful.
Habit Management, which wants to open an office clinic on Putney Road,
said in its most recent letter to state regulators that the clinic would serve
all of Windham County, as well as Springfield, Chester, Andover, and Weston,
towns in southern Windsor County.
Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@....
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