SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) is considering splitting its Opioid Treatment Services into a separate organization.
According to SRHD, three virtual halls will be held this week to discuss the idea of moving the health district’s opioid response to a private organization.
The meetings come after Mayor Lisa Brown declared a state of emergency . Spokane County also launched a new $1.5 million program to handle
initially approved a feasibility study for moving OTS to a private organization in April. SRHD Administrative Officer Dr. Alicia Thompson argued that OTS has grown from a small methadone clinic for people addicted to heroin in the early ‘90s to a full-fledged organization that may not make sense under the SRHD umbrella.
“The opioid and fentanyl crisis has everyone asking what else we can do. How can we make a greater impact…Treatment services has grown to where it is a direct service provider in its own right and must have the ability to be nimble and responsive to the needs of the community,” Thompson said.
Thompson also cited the difficulty of Spokane County securing federal grants for opioid response without Opioid Treatment Services having its own employer identification number.
