Spokane Regional Health District hosting public meeting on Opioid Treatment Services [Video]

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 in response to the opioid crisis in early June. Spokane County also launched a new $1.5 million program to handle addiction and mental health issues that week.

SRHD’s Board of Health 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 …