Dunmore police chief visits Allentown methadone clinic
Published: July 5, 2009
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ALLENTOWN - With the exception of some cameras, a gate and a discreet sign, Habit OPCO's methadone clinic in Allentown could pass for the last home on a dead-end street. There are no lines of patients winding out the door. A child-size table and chairs sit in one corner of the waiting room.
Dunmore Police Chief Patrick Reese stands at the counter as a patient would. The nurse at the computer asks him questions about how he is feeling, before taking his pulse and checking his pupils.
For an actual patient, the doctor-prescribed dose of liquid methadone would then be dispensed via the computerized machine at the nurse's side. The patient would then drink the methadone in front of the nurse, before dropping the dosage cup into a locked cabinet.
"We have to account for every drop of methadone," said Debby Schmidt, director of business development for Habit OPCO, the Boston-based health care organization that wants to open a methadone clinic at 118 Monahan Ave., in Dunmore's Keystone Industrial Park.
Methadone is an opioid medication used to treat pain and addictions to heroin, OxyContin and synthetic opioids. The proposed facility has sparked opposition in the community. Chief Reese and Throop police Officer Gene Ruddy - who will likely serve on Borough Council come January - recently visited Habit OPCO's clinic in Allentown. He and Mr. Ruddy presented many scenarios to Ms. Schmidt and program director Michelle Duke.
One of Chief Reese's biggest concerns is the clinic's first few weeks of operation, when he said patients could still be using drugs illegally.
About 80 patients seek help from the Allentown clinic, which opened in October, said Ms. Duke. She admits about five new patients a week. Habit OPCO would eventually like to treat 250 patients at the Dunmore location, but Ms. Schmidt has said the build-up would be slow.
A public hearing on the clinic is scheduled for 7 or 7:30 p.m. July 13, in the Dunmore Community Center.
Contact the writer: mreiter@timesshamrock.com
13 posted comments
focus on better programs to get the addicts off of drugs, period. Methodone only prolongs the weaning process. Heroin is out of the body's system in one week.Methadone clinics only enable people to stay addicted to drugs and the lifestyle associated with them.