REHABILITATION TRENDS TO LONGER TREATMENT

ROCKFORD -- Hailey struggled with drug addiction for nearly half her
life, and only extended rehabilitation has offered any hope for recovery.

The 19-year-old started using at age 11. When she thought she was
finally ready to quit, she checked into the Rosecrance Health Network in 2007.

After three months, she left treatment and relapsed.

"The first time, I wasn't doing it for myself," said Hailey, who uses
only her first name per Rosecrance policy. "When I decided to come
back, I realized that my life was going nowhere fast, and I was lost."

Hailey came back to treatment last summer and completed 28 days as an
inpatient. And her return to a sober home offers the hope of success
for the future.

More experts agree that traditional 28- and 30-day treatment programs
for substance abuse must be augmented with some form of long-term
treatment, be that support meetings or outpatient services.

About half of patients will relapse after treatment for substance
abuse, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The issue then becomes cost, for the patient and the organization
providing the services in light of state and national cuts to
addiction programs.

Rosecrance suffered from some of the cuts made when Gov. Rod
Blagojevich slashed $43 million in funding for substance-abuse
treatment centers. About 90 percent to 95 percent of that funding has
been restored, but officials have been warned not to rely on the
funding next year, Rosecrance spokeswoman Susan Rice said.

Dr. Thomas Wright, chief medical officer for Rosecrance Health
Network, said officials don't try to squeeze patients into
cookie-cutter treatment programs.

"It used to be 'fit the patients to the treatment,' but now it's 'fit
the treatment to the patients,'" Wright said. "No one treatment works
for everyone."