BUDGET WOES FORCE STATE DETOX CENTER TO CLOSE IN LAFAYETTE

LAFAYETTE -- Acadiana's only public medical detoxification facility closed
Monday, the first program of several inevitable to be cut at the University
Medical Center in Lafayette, a state public hospital spokesman said.

As a state facility, UMC is required to balance its budget. Projections for
the next fiscal year, which starts June 30, are that the hospital will be
about $4 million in the red, spokesman Don Buchanan said.

Cutting the in-patient center will save about $250,000, Buchanan said.

The center gives drug addicts and alcoholics a safe environment in which to
rid their bodies of the substances they abuse, the first step in some
people's treatment.

Even with the center cut, that still leaves a hefty $3.75 million deficit.
Hospital officials are working to prioritize programs to decide which ones
might be cut or determine where more money can be found, Buchanan said.

Decisions about cuts will be made keeping in mind the importance of
preserving the core medical services the public expects and the medical
education program, while also looking at what services are duplicated by
other medical facilities in the community, Buchanan said.

"These things (cuts) aren't treated lightly," Buchanan said.

The center at UMC in Lafayette has 13 beds, which was cut to seven in
January, Buchanan said.

Monday, there were six patients in the program. When those patients
graduate or leave, their beds won't be refilled, Buchanan said.

"No one's going to be shoved out the door," Buchanan said.

Also, no one who goes to the hospital in need of medically supervised
detoxification will be turned away, Buchanan said.

According to the state Department of Health and Hospitals, the only other
public medical detoxification centers in Louisiana are in Independence and
New Orleans.

In Acadiana, there are now no medical detoxification units -- public or
private, said Janice Fox, director of the Acadiana Recovery Center.

There are also no "social" detoxification units, Fox said.

While medical detoxification is in a hospital, with 24-hour medical
supervision and possible medication, social detoxification isn't connected
to a hospital and involves mainly close observation and encouragement, Fox
said.

The Acadiana Recovery Center, which opened three years ago, takes patients
after they've gone through any necessary detoxification, Fox said.

There's a real need for medical detoxification, mainly in cases of severe
alcohol or drug dependence, Fox said.

"It's a real hardship for the community," Fox said.

Meanwhile, the state hospital system will continue to wrestle with budget
problems, as it has in the past, Buchanan said.

For every $30 the state funds its hospital system, the federal government
pays $70, Buchanan said.

In good years, the state has been able to take advantage of this system,
Buchanan said.

But in lean budget years, a seemingly small budget cut on the state level
can multiply into much more federal matching funds lost, Buchanan said.

DHH officials are beginning to talk with state hospital officials to see if
anything can be done to keep a detoxification center open in Lafayette, DHH
spokesman Bob Johannessen said.

The 139-person-long waiting list at UMC's unit is evidence the program is
needed, Johannessen said.

"We need to find a way to expand services and not cut back services,"
Johannessen said. "But all that's difficult in a budget crunch."