METHADONE BATTLE MAY PROMPT CHANGES

A one-year battle over the opening of Shelby County's first methadone
clinic may prompt changes in the approval process for medical
facilities in the state.

Local legislators have encouraged the State Health Planning and
Development Agency to consider changes in the approval process for
methadone clinics.

Rep. Mike Hill (R-Columbiana) said he and others support changes that
would allow affected community members to voice their opposition to
any proposed methadone clinic.

Under state law, hospitals and methadone clinics are approved in the
same way.

"It just needs to change. There need to be some differences," Hill
said.

Sen. Hank Erwin (R-Montevallo) said he thinks the language in the
application for a methadone clinic should be specific, and that
community members must be notified.

"I think the CON (Certificate of Need) for a clinic has to be very
specific," he said. "The location must be pinpointed to the exact
community. The way the rules read right now, it could be the whole
county. Shelby County can be a mighty big county."

Erwin said he hopes the state Health Planning and Development Agency
will change what he considers fluid guidelines for methadone clinics.

Erwin backed residents of unincorporated Saginaw during their battle
to block the opening of a methadone clinic in their community this
year. Erwin said residents were not properly notified of the clinic's
opening.

"There needs to be greater notification to the community in general to
allow their input in the final decision," Erwin said. "I think that
greatly improves steps toward due process, by eliminating the
surprises of Saginaw."

Earlier this month, Shelby Count Circuit Judge Dan Reeves blocked the
Shelby County Treatment Center from opening in Saginaw.

District Attorney Robby Owens and Pelham attorney Mickey Johnson
represented plaintiffs in the case, claiming that citizens' rights to
due process were violated.

The Shelby County Treatment Center would have been the county's first
methadone clinic. During the application procedure with the state
Health Planning and Development Agency, applicants indicated Calera as
the clinic's location.

The Health Planning and Development Agency approved an amended
application to move the clinic's location to Saginaw, but residents
claimed they did not have ample time to oppose the clinic.

Susan Staats-Sidwell, owner of the Shelby County Treatment Center,
said she is appealing the injunction against the clinic.
Staats-Sidwell said she followed state guidelines of the state Health
Planning and Development Agency.