Public health is the foundation of thriving communities. Yet, Spokane Regional Health District is considering privatizing the Treatment Services opioid treatment program and abandoning the effort to stop the opioid crisis in our community. SRHD Treatment Services is a fully self-funded public program treating nearly 1,000 patients a year for opioid and substance-use disorder. Privatizing our state’s largest opioid treatment program could result in patients losing access to vital care and services, as well as leaving our community without an accountable, transparent system for some of the most vulnerable among us.

What’s At Risk:

• Access to high-quality, free or low-cost opioid treatment and wraparound support services: SRHD Treatment Services is combating the opioid crisis in our community by providing access to essential health services for people struggling with opioid use disorder. Several decades of an opioid crisis in our community have showed vividly why we need a strong system of support and advocacy for members of our community who become addicted to opioids. Closure of the largest opioid treatment program in the State of Washington could result in patients falling through the cracks and losing access to services, paying more for those services, or being exploited by treatment providers who see them as a way to make money. Our public program ensures treatment and other resources (like WIC, the Nurse-Family Partnership, and mental health services, just to name a few) remain accessible to as many people as possible, including those who have no ability to pay.
• Lives: In Spokane County, opioid overdose hospitalizations have increased 2.5-fold since 2004. Now is not the time to make drastic changes to the opioid treatment system in place in our community. SRHD Treatment Services plays a crucial role in interrupting the cycle of addiction and providing high-quality, evidence-based healthcare services to patients. Abandoning this system that has been in place for decades could result in increased overdoses, increased barriers to patient care, and potential loss of life in our community.
• Assistance for the Uninsured: A majority of SRHD Treatment Services patients are insured by Medicaid/Medicare. In a healthcare system where insurance often dictates access to care, SRHD Treatment Services provides crucial medical services to those without private insurance. Scholarship programs, Medicare/Medicaid billing, and flexible payment options offered by SRHD ensure that everyone has access to treatment, regardless of their ability to pay. SRHD Treatment Services has not removed a patient due to inability to pay in over five years, and has operated effectively as a self-funded program (with only a few short exceptions) since 1990.
• Critical Support for vulnerable members of our community: SRHD Treatment Services is the only opioid treatment provider locally that provides services to people in jail. Continued research has shown that death by opioid overdose increases by upwards of 50 times when a person has been formerly incarcerated. We know offering treatment to those incarcerated helps to mitigate that rate and keep our community alive. In addition, because SRHD does not turn potential patients away for an inability to pay, many patients are those experiencing homelessness and/or are uninsured. A lack of care makes it more difficult for people who need opioid treatment or who are experiencing homelessness to establish healthier, more stable living situations, and easier for vulnerable individuals to become unhoused.