Published Sunday, June 11, 2000
HERMITAGE
Clinic isn’t a quick fix for addicts
By Beth BaumgardnerHerald Staff Intern
Discovery House Methadone Clinic, Hermitage, opened its doors Wednesday to community members, medical professionals and representatives of the criminal justice system to dispel misconceptions about the clinic.
“A lot of people are under the impression that we give methadone and don’t really care. But we do care,” said Karen DeLeone, facility head nurse. “We want to let them know that we are a legitimate facility.”
The discreet clinic’s 186 clients enter from a back door between 5 and 10 a.m. for daily doses of methadone, a synthetic opiate that stabilizes heroin and other drug addicts without producing a euphoric high.
The front door is kept locked but the inside’s dark wood paneling is warmed with paintings of flowers and hearts.
“We consider ourselves dealing with harm reduction,” said Bob Wilson, project manager. “By giving our patients methadone, it eliminates them having to go out on streets to get illicit drugs.” A staff physician prescribes liquid methadone for patients, who take the drug orally, Wilson said. Doses are gradually reduced until the patient is no longer dependent.
“We believe in drug freedom, just like any clinic,” Wilson said.
The reduction process usually takes 18 months, but it can take years, Ms. DeLeone said. Some patients addictions are so strong they must be weaned down to the most minuscule doses — 1-milligram — before stopping the medication, she said.
For $85, patients are given doses and about two hours of therapy per week by staff counselors, several of whom are former addicts.
Addicts pay about $100 to $200 per day for heroin, so the clinic’s cost is manageable, Wilson said.
Methadone lasts 24 hours, allowing patients to go to the clinic once a day and maintain a normal life, Ms. DeLeone said.
“They’re able to go to work,” Wilson said. “They’re able to be productive members of society because they’re not looking for drugs.”
Though the clinic is only three years old, the facility is five patients away from capacity. It eventually plans to serve more than 200, Ms. DeLeone said.
Eighty-five of the 182 patients are 35 to 44 years old and the rest are 25 to 34 years old, except for one 18-year-old.
More than half are seeking treatment for painkiller addictions, Ms. DeLeone said. These are people who have had surgeries and stayed on painkillers extensively, Ms. DeLeone said. But the statistics are changing.
“We’re seeing a lot of younger people come in, usually for heroin addiction,” said Ms. DeLeone. She said Pennsylvania has a “terrible” heroin problem in the St. Mary’s and DuBois area due to lack of activities for young people. Locally, Ms. DeLeone said Sharon and New Castle are also producing addicts.
“You would think those kids would be wholesome and go hunting,” Ms. DeLeone said. “But, no. They do drugs.” The demographic shift is not restricted to this area. In 1997, the typical heroin user was 17.6 years old the first time they tried the drug, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Agency Web site —www.usdoj.gov/dea/index.htm. In 1990 the average was 26.4 years old. The clinic’s long-term maintenance program is necessary because patients’ habits, relationships and lifestyles must change, said Kelly Donatelli, Discovery House’s head counselor. This is the hardest hurdle for patients, especially those whose family members are also addicts.
“The habit they were doing, say self-medication, they’ve done that for years,” Mrs. Donatelli said. “That’s how they deal with stress.”
Ms. DeLeone said the change in patients is often visible within a week of treatment, even with simple aspects like caring about taking showers and wearing clean clothes.
Once patients sign up for the program, they go through a complete physical and several blood and urine tests, said Hollie Auldridge, Discovery House’s physician’s assistant.
Patients must come in every day but Sunday for methadone doses. After they have been clean for 90 days, they get weekend privileges, allowing them to take home the medication for Saturday and Sunday, Ms. DeLeone said.
After nine clean months, patients come in three times a week and after two years, they come in twice a week, Ms. DeLeone said.
Although the clinic tries not to act like a police station, Ms. DeLeone said the staff has to monitor patients closely.
“Because of their behaviors they do tend to lie,” she said. “You try to trust them. We try to treat them with respect so they have some sort of respect for themselves.
“We don’t try to treat them like drug addicts.”
Unfortunately, having patients complete the program and then relapse is not uncommon. “It’s something where you kind of see people in and out,” DeLeone said. “It’s something they’ll always have to work at.”