NOVEMBER 18, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9
CLINIC: Clients travel 3-4
hours for new treatment
(Coutiuued from Page A1)
clients, some of whom are
driving from three or four
hours away.
“I underestimated the
need, and there are fewer
buprenorphine
prescribers
than ever,” said Neilsen.
Buprenorphine
is
an
alternative to the methadone
for opioid addiction, and
while the two drugs share
a number of side effects,
buprenorphine causes less
sedation. Both drugs work by
dampening opioid receptors
and lessening the craving for
the high induced by heroin
or opioid pain-relievers like
hydrocodone and oxycodone.
Becoming a buprenorphine
presbscriber can result in
added costs for a doctor. It can
mean paying more for liability
insurance and costs related
to support, tracking and
accountability, which Nielsen
said seemed to be the primary
reasons for the low number of
doctors willing to take it on.
Conversely, the partner
doctor
at
Renaissance
Recovery is nearly tripling
the number of his available
buprenorphine prescriptions
with the onset of the new year
(2017).
The goal with each new
client is to work toward full
recovery in about a year on
average, Nielsen said. Clients
enrolled in the program
receive a prescription for
buprenorphine along with a
variety of support services to
aid recovery efforts. For the
fi rst two months, new clients
must check in with the doctor
every week, and then less
often as the dose of the drug
is gradually reduced.
The support side of
recovery is where Nielsen
feels Renaissance Recovery
is poised to make the biggest
impact.
“We've started seeing an
even more diverse group of
clients. In the past it was what
some people would see as the
stereotypical addict or repeat
DUII offender, but now it's
people who got in a bad
car wreck, were prescribed
Vicodin and have since
moved on to heroin or other
substances,” he said.
Other societal changes have
also led Nielsen to change
the way Renaissance does
business.
“We've embraced technol-
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ogy because we found many
of our clients were willing to.
Every client that comes in can
sign into our secure website
and they can send messages to
their counselor, fi nd out meet-
ing times and topics at our site
and tap into other available re-
sources,” Nielsen said.
Progress in the ways
addiction is thought about –
and treated – have also had
an infl uence. Traditionally,
recovery programs viewed
abstinence as the only route
to health, but Nielsen said the
industry is moving toward a
harm reduction model. Rather
than trying to hold clients to
pledges of going cold turkey, it
might mean coming up with
new parameters when they are
using controlling substances –
like not drinking alone, or not
injecting drugs.
“I always think what we do
is a taboo subject and a lot of
people don't want to admit
how big the problem is. We're
trying to take a leadership role
in recognizing the problem
and meeting it,” Nielsen said.
The success of the
buprenorphine
program
and other have led Nielsen
to increase the number of
employees on site and expand
the hours of some existing
employees.
For more information
about programs available at
Renaissance Recovery, visit
renaissancerecoveryresources.
com, or call 503-304-4358.
Renaissance
Recovery
partners with more than 20
insurance agencies and is
part of two coordinated care
organizations that qualify for
the Oregon Health Plan.
PLAY,
continued from Page A1
portions of a play structure in
Wallace House Park last week
after a slat on a bridge broke
and a slide was damaged.
It's a temporary fi x while
Johnson fi gures out where to
pull the money from to pay
for repair, but it's also a portent
of what might be in the future
of Keizer parks unless a stable
funding source is secured.
Johnson
originally
estimated the cost to repair
the structure at $2,000, but
the number climbed up
after getting exact prices on
replacements and labor.
The damage to the slide
is believed to have been
an act of vandalism, but it's
harder to determine what
happened to the bridge. The
manufacturer agreed to cover
the replacement slat under
warranty, but not the slide. The
total for part alone amounted
to $1,574. Johnson also doesn't
want to void the remaining
warranty on the play structure,
which means a licensed
installer has to perform the
repair. Labor will cost another
$1,900.
There is no excess within
the parks budget. The general
fund, which the city uses to
pay for police and parks among
other expenses, does have a
contingency component but
fi xing a play structure using
those reserves falls far down on
the list of priorities.
Johnson could use money
from a match grant fund for
parks improvements, but that
would pull money away from
other potential projects that
serve to engage residents in
park ownership. A $5,000
match grant was awarded last
year to rehabilitate Carlson
Skate Park, but the project fell
through. The money was rolled
over into the matching grant
fund this year and Johnson is
loathe to use it for another
purpose. City offi cials are
hoping someone with a plan to
fi x the issues at the skate park
comes forward.
“What it comes down to is
operating funds and seasonal
temporary hires. I watch my
spending already, and I would
have to go without something.
It doesn't hit me this second,
but I have to prepare for what's
down the line,” Johnson said.
If he cuts back on hours for
seasonal hires, it will mean he
and Shelton have to scramble
to make up the difference
when park usage kicks into full
gear next spring.
Another option is holding
off on equipment purchases.
He was hoping to get a new
mower, blower and trimmer in
June 2017 with any funds he
managed to save during the
rest of the year. Repairing the
Wallace House Play structure
would make that more unlikely.
“If one of our current
machines blows up or goes out
of service, we won't have the
tools to do the job,” Johnson
said.
A wind storm that took
down several trees in Keizer
parks requiring a tree service
to step in also took a chunk
out of what he hoped to be
saving toward the purchases.
As of Nov. 14, Johnson
was still weighing his options
and the play structure was still
blocked off.
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