CLINIC RESTRICTIONS SOUGHT

Gov. Bob Riley has asked state health officials to revise their rules
regarding medical applications, including those for methadone clinics.

Riley and other critics of the current rules believe they are not
restrictive enough and don't go far enough to notify the public about
proposed medical facilities.

"It's aimed at providing more notice to the public," said Alva
Lambert, director of the state Health Planning and Development Agency.
"There was some legislative interest in it, so they contacted the governor."

Efforts to reach Riley Thursday were unsuccessful, but health agency
officials said the governor's request was prompted by a court fight
over a proposed methadone clinic in Shelby County.

Last week, residents of unincorporated Saginaw won their protests
against the Shelby County Treatment Center, which was scheduled to
open in their community.

In his ruling about the clinic, Judge Dan Reeves said a lack of
notification denied Saginaw residents their right to inquire about the
clinic or speak at the state hearing regarding its license.

The clinic's actual location was not made public until it was too late
for meaningful protest, Reeves found.

The state health agency on Wednesday discussed Riley's request to
evaluate its policy on public notification and changing the locations
of proposed facility sites.

At their meeting, agency officials said clinic owners Susan
Staats-Sidwell and Dr. Glenn Archibald followed current state rules.
The proposed changes would toughen requirements on public
notification.

"They tend to be more sensitive situations with the methadone
clinics," Lambert said. "We typically have not had a problem like this
except in this particular instance."

Methadone is a prescribed drug taken by mouth to reduce the desire for
drugs such as painkillers and heroin.

In the case of the Saginaw clinic, owners originally planned to
operate in Calera, but the location was changed after the health
planning agency issued a certificate of need. The board later approved
a modified application listing Saginaw as the clinic's location.

Under the proposed rules, an application for a medical facility must
be advertised in a local newspaper for two weeks. Currently,
notification is done by the board through news releases.

In addition, any change in location from the original application
would require an additional public advertising period and possibly a
new hearing before the board.

Both the Shelby clinic owners and challengers said the state board
affirmed their positions.

"The certificate of need board saying that we did everything correctly
is a good thing," Staats-Sidwell said. "If they don't like the law
then change it, but as it was standing, we did everything correctly."

Staats-Sidwell and her partners said they will appeal Reeves' ruling
to the Court of Civil Appeals in Montgomery. She said the state
board's comments strengthen the clinic's argument that Reeves was
incorrect in his ruling.

"We're not supposed to be penalized for something that we did totally
correct all the way though," she said.

Shelby County District Attorney Robby Owens welcomed the board's
proposal for new rules, saying it would allow greater public
participation in the licensing process and prevent further confusion
in other cases.

"That's all we've ever asked for," he said. "There was no way a
citizen in Saginaw could ever know there was going to be a methadone
clinic in Saginaw."

Owens and lawyer Mickey Johnson represented the county and Saginaw
residents in the case. Owens said the clinic owners avoided initial
protests through a technicality in the current state
regulations.

"We didn't say that she didn't follow some of the rules; we said some
of it was tricky," Owens said. "The judge agreed with us, and I think
it's having a positive effect in Montgomery."

Lambert said he expects the board to vote on the rule changes during
its next meeting, in November.