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DALLAS TWP. — A new drug detoxification and treatment center has opened in the township, generating praise from Luzerne County Drug and Alcohol Director Steve Ross and county District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis.
Ross said his agency has worked with center operator Pyramid Healthcare Inc. for more than a decade because the company has several in-patient programs throughout the state, and a facility here will be “incredibly paramount.”
“I can’t share with you how elated we are to have you with a presence in our local backyard,” Ross said during an open house Friday.
The new facility — called the Dallas Detox and Inpatient Treatment Center — will help in battling the opioid epidemic and treating substance use disorder “as a whole,” Ross said.
The company is “proactive and forward thinking” and not afraid to embrace medication-assisted treatment and stigma reduction, which will be instrumental in changing drug and alcohol treatment and the needs of local residents, Ross said.
Center Executive Director Ricardo Horn has been attending county drug and alcohol provider meetings and serves on the county’s Coalition to STOP Overdoses, Ross said.
“We are literally going to change the provider culture here in Luzerne and Wyoming counties and the northeast part of this state and the way that we treat those residents of ours who are so dearly in need of our services,” Ross said. “I can ‘t tell you how happy I am to have you guys here today and how much we look forward to working with you in the years to come.”
DA Salavantis told open house attendees she lost her sister to substance use disorder and continues to “go through the battle of addiction” with some family members.
The new facility and others are important because they care and do not look at clients as “just another addict,” she said.
About 80 to 90 percent of county crime is connected to “some type of addiction,” she said. While pursuing justice for victims, Salavantis also has worked on initiatives, such as the STOP Coalition, to help those suffering from substance use disorder.
“We have to find better ways to make our future brighter and more positive,” Salavantis said.
‘No more time to debate’
Luzerne County saw 166 overdose deaths in 2018 — the fourth consecutive year for a new record high, the county coroner’s office said this week. In comparison, there were 155 fatal overdoses in 2017, 140 in 2016 and 95 in 2015, according to the office.
Located at the site of the former Wyoming Valley Health Care System building at 100 Upper Demunds Road, the facility required a township zoning variance to proceed, according to prior published reports.
The center will offer residential treatment for men and women and provide 20 detoxification beds and 80 residential treatment ones, Horn said.
Instead of dictating a treatment plan, the center’s philosophy is that there are “multiple pathways to recovery” and clients should be involved in the decision, he noted.
While no medication is always an option, center clients will be permitted to choose Suboxone or Vivitrol — medications that stop drug cravings by blocking brain receptors — because there is “indisputable data” about the effectiveness of medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, he said.
Some other treatment centers have shunned medication-assisted treatment, but Horn said there’s “no more time to debate.”
“While people argue over the approach, our loved ones are dying,” he said. “This is a place of compassion, healing, respect and the ability to choose what’s best for them.”
Warm hand-offs from ER
Headquartered in Altoona, Pyramid Healthcare and its subsidiaries operate more than 80 treatment locations in five states.
At the open house, company CEO Jonathan Wolf said the center cost $10 million to construct — the old building was gutted — and has been in development since 2014. Many encouraged the company to open its first center in Luzerne County, he said.
“We believe in this community, and we believe the service is needed here, so we’ve been persistent,” Wolf said.
The Dallas-area site also will provide around-the-clock transportation for emergency room detoxification referrals under the “warm hand-off” program, Ross said earlier this week.
The state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs started requiring implementation of the program in 2016 as part of its battle against the opioid epidemic. Counties must connect drug and alcohol case managers to hospital overdose patients to encourage and assist with treatment options.
Ross said he has worked with all hospitals in both counties to implement the program.
“Now Pyramid will be able to pick them up and provide access to care immediately,” Ross said.
