The Vermont Department of Health wants to set up three new methadone clinics across the state to make it easier for patients with substance use disorder to access treatment.
But the process is meeting resistance in Windsor County at one of the sites the department is eyeing.
The Springfield Development Review Board last month rejected an application from the group Acadia Healthcare to open a methadone clinic in town.
Vermont Deputy Health Commissioner Kelly Dougherty says the state wants to use some of its opioid settlement funds to set up the clinics in parts of the state where patients now have to drive 45 minutes or more to receive treatment.
“The idea is to make it more convenient for people to be able to get their medication without having to travel as far,” Dougherty said. “Oftentimes, particularly in the early stages of treatment, people have to go and get their methadone every day. So if you factor in travel, and you’re trying to work, it can be a huge burden.”
The plan to open three new clinics grew from the work of the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, which was set up to make recommendations on spending millions of dollars the state received as part of a national settlement with pharmaceutical companies and distributors related to the opioid epidemic.
Along with Springfield, Dougherty said the state wants to open a methadone clinic in northern Chittenden County, possibly in Milton, as well as somewhere in Addison County.
Substance use disorder patients in Middlebury have to drive to Rutland or Burlington to receive their medication.
And there are about 140 patients in the Springfield area who now have to travel to Brattleboro or West Lebanon, New Hampshire, for treatment, Dougherty said.
Methadone distribution is tightly regulated by the federal government, and most of the clinics in Vermont are run by for-profit companies that administer the medication and provide counseling services.
About 4,000 patients a year receive treatment at one of these nine “hubs” in Vermont — treatment centers that make up the core of the state’s Hub and Spoke system for addressing the opioid crisis.
If the state succeeds in standing up the new clinics, they will be the first places in Vermont providing methadone outside of those hubs. They will act as satellite locations for the hubs, which provide more services to patients.
“Once we get the three up and running I think that the system is complete,” Dougherty said.
But the state is already facing headwinds in its effort.
At a Springfield Development Review Board hearing in early June, members spent about an hour asking representatives from Acadia Healthcare about their proposal.
The board ultimately rejected the proposal, citing concerns that patients would “congregate in a common location” with other visitors to the medical office building.
It concluded the clinic would “exert an undue adverse impact,” on the neighborhood.
Acadia Healthcare can reapply for the same location, if it makes changes to its plan, or look for an alternative site in Springfield.
The company did not return an email requesting details on its plans.
Dougherty said the state does not yet have specific sites, or partners, for the other two sites in Addison and Chittenden Counties.
