DETOX CENTER SHOULD HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON AGENCIES

LAFAYETTE - Acadiana law enforcement officials said Tuesday that the
closure of University Medical Center's First Step Detoxification Unit this
week will have little effect on their individual agencies. But a
spokeswoman said one Acadiana recovery program will miss the unit's services.

Lt. Craig Stansbury, Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman, said the
Lafayette Parish Correctional Center has its own detoxification unit
staffed by full-time nurses and on-call physicians.

"If a person in custody needed medical attention more than they could
handle, we would bring the individual to the UMC detoxification unit,"
Stansbury said. "They were very seldom referred."

UMC's decision to close its detoxification unit this week leaves the state
with only

20 such beds, all in New Orleans, to serve the entire state. The program
was only the first to be cut to help fill a $4 million gap in UMC's annual
budget before the close of its fiscal year June 30, hospital administrators
said.

Officials with LSU Health Care Services Division, which owns and operates
UMC, said the hospital's Emergency Room staff will continue to treat people
who sought help in the detoxification unit. But LSU does not have plans to
reopen the unit, they said.

The Lafayette Police Department had no affiliation with the detoxification
unit, Cpl. Mark Francis said.

"We'd bring people to the jail," Francis said. "They'd make the decision
there if a person needed further medical attention."

The unit's closure will have the greatest impact on Acadiana substance
abuse treatment programs, which often referred clients to the unit, said
Janice Fox, Acadiana Recovery Center. The center received about 25 calls a
month from clients seeking medical detoxification assistance, she said.
Most were referred to the UMC unit.

"Its loss leaves vacant the key beginning in the continuum of care," Fox
said. "It was the first step in the journey to recovery."

Most referrals involved alcoholics, who are prone to seizure during
withdrawal, and drug addicts who were pregnant or diabetic, she said.

"I'm hopeful funding will be found to restore the program," Fox said. "It's
desperately needed because the unit offered 24-hour medical attention to
addicts in life-threatening situations."