Document text
County detox closing, even with city help Medford's Moore will try to keep program going By Dani Dodge of the Mail Tribune Jackson County will close its detoxification services in less than two weeks, despite a $50,000 pledge from the Medford City Council to keep the doors open. "We will be closing detox on March 17," said County Administrator Sue Slack. "We understand the city of Medford will be doing some fund raising, but we are at a point where we need to cut our financial losses." Slack said, though, if Medford's fund raising succeeds, the county will consider reopening the $138,000-a year program. Medford Councilman Bill Moore called Thursday's announcement disappointing, but said he will continue to fight for the detox program. "There are people out there who will lay out there and die," he said. "I'm going to aim to reopen it and see what we can do to facilitate nonprofits taking it over." Jackson County began detoxification services at the county's Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center at 338 N. Front St. on July 1, 1992. The Medford center offers three to five days of food and shelter to about 250 alcoholics and drug addicts each year. The closure will not affect the county's short-term sobering services, often used by police to get intoxicated people off the street. The sobering program provides several hours or overnight shelter for intoxicated people. The county is looking at a $1.2 million to $1.8 million shortfall in its next budget cycle. But that's not the main reason behind the decision to shut down the program, Slack said. She said only one third of the clients who complete detox go on to addiction treatment. And 56 percent of the people who end up in detox live outside the county. On the advice of Jackson County Health and Services director Hank Collins, the county voted to cut the service in January. The county put off the closure twice at Medford council's request, Slack said. But Slack and Collins met Friday, and Slack decided it was time to let it go. "The idea was people would go into detox and wait for a bed in treatment, but we are finding not many people are going into treatment," she said."If you are a homeless person that's cold and hungry and want a place to stay, the Gospel Mission and Salvation Army are still available." Moore, a retired addictions counselor, said, though, there are ways to improve the percentage of people going from detox into treatment. And anyway, if even one-third of the clients get clean, that's a big number of saved lives. "Anyone you get out of ER rooms or out of the criminal justice system is worth the effort," he said. At Thursday's Medford council meeting, the council pledged $50,000 of beer and wine tax revenue toward the program on the condition that Medford's two hospitals, the county and the state also contribute. Local hospital officials said Friday they weren't ready to make a financial commitment. "However, we will be touching base with other local providers to make sure that these people don't fall through the cracks," said Deborah Elliott, a spokeswoman for Providence Medford Medical Center. Rogue Valley Medical Center -- a member of Asante Health Systems -- is in talks with the county about the situation, said Roseanne McLaren, Asante senior vice president for patient care services. "At this point we are very supportive of what needs to be done ... to serve that population," she said. Neither hospital expected to see big impacts from the closure in their emergency rooms. But at Addictions Recovery Center -- one of several private addiction programs in the county -- officials began to explore new options. Last year, the agency sent 16 people to the detox center so they could sober up enough to begin treatment, said executive director Christine Mason. "We will need to find other resources for those people we refer," she said. She wasn't sure where, though. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA