Politics & Government
Methadone Clinic No Longer Run By County
Due to cost concerns, independent provider brought in to take control.
In an effort to cut costs, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously agreed to no longer operate the county's methadone clinic.
The 235 patients who depend on the decade-old program to receive treatment for drug addiction at the clinic's location on the Veterans Affair campus in Menlo Park will now become the responsibility of the privately operated Bay Area Addiction Research and Treatment, Inc (BAART).
The move, which is slated to save the county $625,442 annually, comes at a time when the supervisors and staff are attempting to find ways to cope with a $50 million deficit.
County Health System Director Jean Fraser said that she believed the transition to BAART will effectively save the county money, as well as offer uninterrupted service to those who depend on it.
"This will be seamless for the patients," said Fraser.
Methadone is frequently administered to those attempting to kick the habit of abusing opiate-based narcotics such as OxyContin, Vicodin, morphine, heroin, or other similar substances.
The drug is prescribed with the intention of weaning patients from their addiction to opiates without causing withdrawal symptoms.
BAART offers methadone treatment programs across Northern California, in local cities such as San Mateo, San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond.
Fraser said the county's health department has been searching since 2009 for ways to reduce costs related to the methadone clinic.
Initially it was the intention of county administrators to maintain responsibility for the program. But once that effort proved too difficult and costly, the search began for an independent organization to come in and assume its control, said Fraser.
The methadone clinic currently costs the county $900 a day per patient to operate, and that expense is expected to increase to $920 next year, according to public documents.
Fraser said she was happy to announce that though BAART would take control of the program, 13 of the 14 workers currently employed at the methadone clinic would be placed elsewhere in the county health care system.
She said there is also a plan being formulated to save the job of the fourteenth county employee working at the methadone clinic who is at risk of losing it when the hand off is complete.
Supervisors also approved on Tuesday paying $311,110 to extend the clinic's current lease agreement, which ensures that it will stay open on the Veterans Affairs campus in Menlo Park through February.
During that time, both the county and BAART will begin searching for another location that can serve as the clinic's new home, according to public documents.
Fraser said in a memo to the board released prior to Tuesday's meeting that the lease agreement should be extended in order to guarantee a smooth transition for the clinic that would also avoid an interruption in service to patients.
More than 10 residents entered requests to publicly address this issue with the Board of Supervisors when it was scheduled to be discussed around 9 a.m. at the meeting Tuesday.
But as the issue was pushed back due to lengthy discussions by the board on other agenda issues, it was approved at 5 p.m. with almost no conversation and public input.
