Who could take over SRHD’s opioid treatment services? Four organizations want to try

Four organizations are vying to take over the Spokane Regional Health District’s opioid treatment program.

The public health agency opened its direct services for those struggling with opioid addiction in 1990 and began a feasibility study in May to see if the program could be outsourced without compromising the quality of its care. Many of the Health District’s upwards of 1,000 patients have expressed concern such a transition would negatively affect their health, especially if treatment services became a for-profit entity.

“When our program started in 1990 as a methadone clinic, there were no other medication-assisted treatment providers in the community. We were the only ones. Now there are many organizations providing opioid treatment, and I have talked to four organizations that could potentially be interested in taking on our program,” SRHD administrator Alicia Thompson said at a Board of Health meeting last week. 

Here’s a look at the four organizations that could take over if the health district decides to end its program .

Oregon Recovery & Treatment Centers

ORTC is a private for-profit addiction treatment provider based in Oregon. The company’s Spokane location is branded as Spokane Recovery Center, located in north Spokane along Division Street.

Founded in 2013, the company has eight locations between Oregon and Washington and is a smaller, regional treatment provider compared to some other options.

According to managing director and co-owner Matt Owen, the company was founded a decade ago by providers of opioid treatment who “wanted to go to sleep at night and know we did the best we can.”

The company is based in Bend, Oregon, and its other Washington location is in the Tri-Cities. Their current facility in Spokane treats approximately 400 patients. Owen said their organization could handle taking over SRHD’s new lower South Hill location and operate both facilities.

“If we were given this opportunity, there would absolutely not be a decrease in services for patients. We are really excited to be considered for the opportunity,” he said.

ORTC provides its employees with online continuing education specifically related to opioid treatment. The organization also has an accreditation from The Joint Commission, a national organization that provides a stamp of approval for healthcare entities.

“This status goes above and beyond the required accreditation of the Washington Department of Health,” Thompson said of the Joint Commission accreditation. 

According to data collected by the health district, 84.4% of ORTC patients use Medicaid insurance, 5.1% use Medicare and 10.5% use commercial insurance or self-pay options. Only 69.5% of SRHD opioid treatment services patients use Medicaid, in comparison. The Oregon company also uses a sliding scale for patients without insurance .

Camas Health Recovery Center

The newest organization on the list, the Camas Health Recovery Center, only began seeing patients in September this year and is an entity of the Kalispel Tribe.

Providing opioid use disorder treatment at a facility in Airway Heights, Camas was founded to combat the opioid epidemic in Spokane and surrounding counties both within and outside tribal communities.

“The Camas Health Recovery Center provides outpatient treatment for opioid use disorder. Our person-centered approach combines medication, counseling, and support services intended to maximize positive patient outcomes,” their website reads.

Because the organization is less than a month old, it was unable to provide SRHD with data on its patient base. The organization is accredited through the Washington Department of Health.

Camas is the only governmental entity that has expressed interest in taking over SRHD’s opioid treatment services. As a branch of the Kalispel Tribe, a transfer of treatment services would be from one government to another, rather than to a private organization. Camas is also the only not-for-profit that has expressed interest, while the other three organizations are all for-profit companies.

At last week’s Board of Health meeting, Camas’s consideration also highlighted the board’s lack of tribal representation. A 2021 state law requires public health boards in Washington to have tribal representation if tribal governments exist with the counties of their service area. 

There are currently seven Board of Health members, and an eighth seat has remained vacant for several years. The law allows the state’s American Indian Health Commission to appoint these tribal representatives. An SRHD board member has not yet been appointed because of different interpretations of the state law.

Angel Tomeo Sam, director of local Indigenous domestic violence prevention organization Yoyot Sp’q’n’i, told board members last week that she did not trust them to make a decision on this issue without tribal representation.

“Please get your tribal representative on this board. I do think that it is required to have a tribal representative. Two years vacant is too long. And I feel like you can’t make any decisions without it,” she said.

Spokane County Commissioner and Board of Health chair Josh Kerns told Sam they would happily seat a tribal representative if the AIHC would appoint a single individual.

“The American Indian Health Commission for Washington State is the only entity that can fill that seat. If they send us one name, we will appoint that one person. But they can only send us one name. Not two. Not three. And that’s what they have done in the past,” he said.

Behavioral Health Group

Behavioral Health Group is a private for-profit treatment provider with 116 locations in 23 states. They do not currently operate a program in Spokane or Washington state but own Coeur d’Alene Treatment Center across the border in Idaho.

The group also has Joint Commission accreditation and claims on its website to be the largest network of outpatient opioid treatment facilities with that distinction.

“At BHG, we know that opioid addiction, or opioid use disorder, is not a moral failing. It’s a chronic disease of the brain that requires evidence-based treatment and management,” they write on their website.

According to data provided to SRHD, 53% of BHG’s patients use Medicaid, 11% use Medicare and 35% use commercial insurance or pay out of pocket. That is a higher percentage of patients using commercial insurance than seen at SRHD, where more patients use Medicaid.

Acadia Healthcare

Also a nationwide for-profit opioid treatment provider, Acadia Healthcare is the largest network of providers that has expressed interest in taking over SRHD treatment services. The company has 258 locations across 38 states.

Acadia currently operates Spokane Comprehensive Treatment Center on the western edge of the city. The company also runs another facility in Deer Park and seven other treatment services centers on the state’s West Side.

“The hallmark of treatment at Acadia facilities is our unwavering commitment to focused, personalized care,” the Acadia website reads.

The organization has not provided data to the Spokane Regional Health District.

Acadia recently reached a $20 million settlement with federal prosecutors who investigated the company for allegedly billing its clients for medically unnecessary services and forcing clients to stay in their facilities longer than needed. A second federal investigation is ongoing.