UMC DETOX UNIT CLOSED; PATIENTS REFERRED TO NEW ORLEANS

LAFAYETTE - University Medical Center closed its First Step Detoxification
Unit on Monday, leaving 20 beds in New Orleans to service the entire state.

There are about 650 patients on a statewide waiting list for one of the 20
beds at the Medical Center of Louisiana Charity Campus detoxification unit
in New Orleans, said Michael Duffy with the Department of Health and
Hospitals Office of Addictive Disorders. He addressed concerns of Acadiana
substance abuse counselors, physicians and treatment program administrators
Monday during a public hearing at Vermilion Hospital on North University
Avenue.

"The patients assigned to those units are in a life-threatening situation,"
Duffy said. "We need every available bed. We're doing all we can."

UMC administrators closed the First Step Detoxification Unit to help offset
a $4 million shortfall in the hospital's annual budget. The unit was
operated as a joint venture of the LSU Health Care Services Division and
the Department of Health and Hospitals Office of Addictive Disorders Region
IV. It treated drug addicts and alcoholics with severe health care needs,
such as pregnant women and diabetics.

The UMC emergency room staff will continue to serve individuals who sought
treatment at the First Step Detoxification Unit, said LSU Health Care
Services Division spokesman Don Buchanan.

"If it's a medical problem, they will be treated as any other patient that
walks into the emergency room," Buchanan said. "If they need to be
admitted, they'll be admitted."

LSU does not have plans to reopen the unit, which was reduced from 13 beds
to seven in January, he said.

"It was a social service we were happy to render when we had the money,"
Buchanan said. "Closing the unit is not going to solve the hospital's
budget problems. It's just one step."

More UMC programs will come under scrutiny before the close of the
hospital's fiscal year on June 30, Buchanan said. Hospital administrator
Larry Dorsey forwarded to the home office in Baton Rouge a list of
recommended programs to be cut, he said.

"The detoxification unit is the only one that has been approved so far,"
Buchanan said. "I can assure you other cuts are coming. We're not going to
identify them at this time."