Pubdate: Sat, 17 Sep 2005
Source: Bennington Banner (VT)
Copyright: 2005 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and NENI Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.benningtonbanner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2424
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

LEADERSHIP NEEDED FOR HEROIN TREATMENT

Vermont Health Commissioner Paul Jarris has his work cut out for him.

In interviews with the Banner this week, Jarris said he would return to 
Bennington in a month or so to begin building support for the creation of a 
drug treatment center in town.

Jarris stated the obvious. Bennington County has its share of heroin 
addicts - not to mention those who abuse cocaine, Oxycontin and other drugs 
- - and their treatment needs have gone unmet for far too long.

But try telling that to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

It was four years ago when one of Jarris' predecessors, then-Health 
Commissioner Jan Carney, came to town and called for a comprehensive 
approach to addressing the state's growing problem of heroin addiction. In 
addition to law enforcement and prevention, she said, there have to be 
treatment options available.

But in 2001, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center said there was no 
demonstrated need for a local methadone program. A hospital spokesman later 
relented somewhat and said the topic would be discussed internally - to no 
apparent effect.

This week, an SVMC spokesman offered more of the same, saying hospital 
officials were not even certain a clinic was necessary. "We would need to 
look at the details of whether there's a need for a methadone clinic and 
how the proposal was structured," said Kevin Robinson.

Not Certain There's A Need?

Does anyone remember, or even care about, the young woman who overdosed on 
cocaine, Percocet and heroin, only to be left unconscious in a Main Street 
parking lot by so-called friends?

Or the young man found dead on a Lincoln Street sidewalk early one morning?

Or maybe the nurse, a mother of two, whose cold body was found in a County 
Street apartment, drug paraphernalia at her side?

If the state's top health officials - not to mention the police and some 
local legislators - recognize that Bennington has a problem, then why can't 
the hospital?

We think that Jarris, to his credit, put his finger on it: There is a 
stigma attached to heroin addiction. And we suspect the hospital would 
rather not be associated with it.

That is unfortunate, because Southwestern Vermont Medical Center has much 
to be proud of. Earlier this year, the state gave the hospital high marks 
on almost every measure of quality when it comes to treating patients with 
heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The 2004 report card showed 
that SVMC fared better than Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington and 
the Rutland Regional Medical Center.

Those kinds of results create goodwill in the community, giving SVMC the 
kind of political capital that it should have the courage to spend on a 
worthy but perhaps unpopular goal of creating a drug treatment center in town.

We've seen what the hospital is capable of when it comes to mounting a 
public relations campaign. Witness the focus groups and press conferences 
it held to marshal support for its ill-fated, $1 million attempt to build a 
retirement village on prime farmland. We would applaud the hospital if it 
brought the same energy to bear in the fight against drug addiction.

 From where we stand, it's a question of priorities. If the hospital can 
set aside $122,000 in this year's budget for so-called comfort care items, 
such as plush towels, better quality glassware and upgraded TV sets, or 
give its imprimatur to programs like the Center for Medical Humanism, the 
only one of its kind in the United States, then it can address a problem 
that is far more dire.

SVMC likes to boast that it provides world class medicine, close to home. 
If that's the case, then it's something that even the least among us - 
namely heroin addicts - deserve.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman