Spokane Regional Health District opens new clinic for opioid treatment

The Spokane Regional Health District has opened a new facility to house its opioid addiction services – expanding treatment as more and more Spokane residents experience addiction to opioids like heroin, fentanyl and prescription drugs.

SRHD Medical Officer Dr. Frank Velázquez said the new facility, located just south of downtown at 311 West 8th Avenue, will be instrumental to helping those with opioid addiction in the city.

“Our goal is to be able to provide our patients and their community with the space that is not only needed, but is appropriate for the journey our patients are trying to go on,” he said at the facility’s Friday open house.

Opioid Treatment Services Director Misty Challinor said the new facility was a “long time coming.”

“I’ve worked in this program for over 15 years, and I’ve seen phenomenal changes for a large majority of individuals. Everybody takes their own time,” Challinor said. “Our goal is to really help them build a foundation. And the people that are coming to us really want to change their life and build a foundation for their recovery.”

Treatments provided by the program include but are not limited to individual counseling, group therapy, case management, and medical treatment for withdrawal symptoms. By prescribing methadone and similar medication, the medical professionals at the clinic can manage their patients’ withdrawal symptoms, reduce opioid craving and blunt the effects of an opioid if is used.

“They come, they get medication – it helps them to not withdrawal. It ultimately helps them to be able to be productive members of society, to take care of their families, to go to work to go to school, to be the best version of themselves,” Challinor said.

The opioid epidemic is a growing issue around and country and in Spokane. For each 100,000 residents of Spokane County, 24.1 individuals died from an opioid overdose in 2021 – 126 opioid-related deaths in total that year. More than 80% of those deaths were related to fentanyl specifically. According to Washington State Department of Health data, the opioid-related death rate in Spokane County doubled between 2020 and 2021.

Challinor argued increased services are needed to provide care to all those who have been or could be diagnosed with opioid-use disorder.

“What we realized very quickly was that not only was our patient population and the need in the community growing rapidly, but in order to meet their needs, it was essential to offer expanded services. But we couldn’t do that in our current structure. We had expanded as much as we could there, and it wasn’t close to being enough,” she said.

The Spokane Regional Health District began discussions to move its treatment facility on the ground floor of their College Street complex to a building of its own. The district began leasing the 8th Avenue location from real estate company Jaffa Parks in February . Since then, the district has renovated its interior and updated the facilities.

Compared to the single floor in their previous building, the new opioid program has five floors to house the same staff. Challinor also noted the building allows the program to expand and hire more staff as demand for opioid recovery treatment increases.

“We’ve never had a cap on patients that we can provide care to, but a barrier was we did not have the space to hire more staff who can handle more patients,” she said. The district will not hire any additional staff at the outset of the new facility’s opening, but it is prepared to “onboard new staff as the community needs them,” Challinor added.

Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner Dina Shaughnessy said the new facility will be “invaluable” in her work to treat those with addiction.

“I won’t be crunched up in my office anymore. And these facilities will just be more comfortable to the patients, and that’s the most important thing,” she said.

The facility is more centrally located for patients, who predominately reside in the downtown area and could struggle to reach the previous site across the river. The location’s proximity to Spokane’s hospital system will also be helpful to patients moving between facilities, Challinor said.

The overwhelming majority of patients at the clinic are covered by Medicare and Medicaid, but Challinor noted their doors are open to anyone experiencing opioid abuse or addiction.

“Stigma is something that is really detrimental to anyone who’s struggling with any kind of addiction or working on their recovery. Because addiction is something that can happen to anybody. And the stigma that’s tied to that when they’re working to try and overcome those battles is really harmful,” she said. “It’s really important for us as individuals, family and friends, and as a community, to really be cognizant and do our best to support the people in our communities. Because this is not something people choose.”

Those interested in receiving treatment for their dependence on opioids can get more information at srhd.org/programs-and-services/opioid-treatment-program or by calling 509-324-1420.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on November 1, 2023, to reflect that the building for the new facility is leased from a private company.