MORATORIUM COULD STALL METHADONE CLINIC PROJECT

PRINCETON - A proposed moratorium on new methadone clinics in West
Virginia could affect a project pending in Mercer County.

The state Health Care Authority is scheduled to vote on a proposed
moratorium Jan. 21, authority chairwoman Sonia Chambers said.

"What the moratorium does is it gives us 180 days to work on whether
we want to develop some additional standards," Chambers said.

"So it basically puts on hold any of the applications we currently
have coming before us. While we are looking at these different
applications, we won't be approving any new ones while looking at the
new standards. So it just sort of prevents any new applications from
being filed, and it puts on hold any applications that are currently
on the pipeline."

A proposal earlier this year by National Specialty Clinics to open a
methadone clinic in Mercer County prompted opposition from several
area residents. The company later withdrew its plans to open clinics
in Mercer, Mineral and Greenbrier counties because it was being sought
by a bigger methadone seller, CRC Health Group Inc., according to an
Associated Press report.

NRC, which runs six methadone clinics in West Virginia, had already
received permission from the authority to open the clinics, but the
state would not transfer that permission to the new parent
corporation. A day after the state approved CRC Health Group Inc.'s
buyout of the West Virginia methadone clinics, CRC reapplied to open
the Mercer, Mineral and Greenbrier clinics. The company must go
through the HCA permitting process again.

Dan Dunmyer, CEO of Princeton Community Hospital, said a moratorium
would afford the state additional time to make well-thought-out decisions.

"I think the state must do what is in the best interest of the
communities -- not just Princeton, but the entire state of West
Virginia," Dunmyer said. "If they implement a moratorium, they are
trying to afford themselves the time to make decisions on such
important issues."

Chambers said a number of people have expressed concerns about
methadone clinics to the authority, while others have voiced support
for the clinics.

"I think people who are supportive of methadone maintenance programs
feel that they should be one of the treatment methods that are
available to people who are addicted to opiates such as OxyContin,"
Chambers said. "People on the opposite side feels it simply keeps them
on another drug, and doesn't get them off drugs."