LEADERSHIP NEEDED FOR HEROIN TREATMENT

Vermont Health Commissioner Paul Jarris has his work cut out for him.

In interviews with the Banner this week, Jarris said he would return to
Bennington in a month or so to begin building support for the creation of a
drug treatment center in town.

Jarris stated the obvious. Bennington County has its share of heroin
addicts - not to mention those who abuse cocaine, Oxycontin and other drugs
- - and their treatment needs have gone unmet for far too long.

But try telling that to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

It was four years ago when one of Jarris' predecessors, then-Health
Commissioner Jan Carney, came to town and called for a comprehensive
approach to addressing the state's growing problem of heroin addiction. In
addition to law enforcement and prevention, she said, there have to be
treatment options available.

But in 2001, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center said there was no
demonstrated need for a local methadone program. A hospital spokesman later
relented somewhat and said the topic would be discussed internally - to no
apparent effect.

This week, an SVMC spokesman offered more of the same, saying hospital
officials were not even certain a clinic was necessary. "We would need to
look at the details of whether there's a need for a methadone clinic and
how the proposal was structured," said Kevin Robinson.

Not Certain There's A Need?

Does anyone remember, or even care about, the young woman who overdosed on
cocaine, Percocet and heroin, only to be left unconscious in a Main Street
parking lot by so-called friends?

Or the young man found dead on a Lincoln Street sidewalk early one morning?

Or maybe the nurse, a mother of two, whose cold body was found in a County
Street apartment, drug paraphernalia at her side?

If the state's top health officials - not to mention the police and some
local legislators - recognize that Bennington has a problem, then why can't
the hospital?

We think that Jarris, to his credit, put his finger on it: There is a
stigma attached to heroin addiction. And we suspect the hospital would
rather not be associated with it.

That is unfortunate, because Southwestern Vermont Medical Center has much
to be proud of. Earlier this year, the state gave the hospital high marks
on almost every measure of quality when it comes to treating patients with
heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The 2004 report card showed
that SVMC fared better than Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington and
the Rutland Regional Medical Center.

Those kinds of results create goodwill in the community, giving SVMC the
kind of political capital that it should have the courage to spend on a
worthy but perhaps unpopular goal of creating a drug treatment center in town.

We've seen what the hospital is capable of when it comes to mounting a
public relations campaign. Witness the focus groups and press conferences
it held to marshal support for its ill-fated, $1 million attempt to build a
retirement village on prime farmland. We would applaud the hospital if it
brought the same energy to bear in the fight against drug addiction.

From where we stand, it's a question of priorities. If the hospital can
set aside $122,000 in this year's budget for so-called comfort care items,
such as plush towels, better quality glassware and upgraded TV sets, or
give its imprimatur to programs like the Center for Medical Humanism, the
only one of its kind in the United States, then it can address a problem
that is far more dire.

SVMC likes to boast that it provides world class medicine, close to home.
If that's the case, then it's something that even the least among us -
namely heroin addicts - deserve.