STATE OKS PRIVATE FIRM TO RUN METHADONE CLINIC

DANBURY -- The city will get a new methadone clinic before the year's end,
run by a private company and based in the community rather than inside
Danbury Hospital.

The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services announced
Thursday it has chosen Connecticut Counseling Centers Inc., which operates
clinics in Waterbury and Norwalk, to run the Danbury operation. It will
take over from Danbury Hospital, which in March announced plans to shut its
120-patient clinic.

"We're ecstatic," said Richard Bilangi, executive director of Connecticut
Counseling Centers, based in Middlebury. "We were one of the original
bidders on the program the hospital has been running. The second time
proved the charm for us."

Patricia O'Connor, the hospital's senior vice president for operations,
said the hospital was pleased. "We'll be meeting with them next week, to
set up timelines, deadlines," she said. "What we want is seamless
transition for the patients we have."

The hospital has run a methadone clinic since 1990, the only hospital-based
methadone clinic in the state. Methadone is used to treat heroin addicts
because it kills the craving for heroin and allows addicts to lead normal
lives.

Methadone is itself additive, but some heroin addicts wean themselves off
methadone as well. Others get a daily oral dose at a clinic for years.

The hospital has been running a $400,000-a-year deficit on its program
because of Medicaid funding guidelines. The government insurance program
pays community-based clinics $31 per patient visit but was paying the
hospital $12 a patient visit.

Also, the hospital had state approval to treat just 120 patients. It had a
waiting list of 20 patients. Other Danbury addicts get their methadone at
clinics in Waterbury and Norwalk.

"It's our plan to be serving at least 200 patients within 12 months of
opening the Danbury clinic," Bilangi said. "That's not unreasonable."

Sam Segal, policy director for addiction services in the state Department
of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said a committee looked at three
applicants to run the Danbury program.

"It was very objective," O'Connor said. "We looked at the three
applications and awarded each of them points for different parts of their
proposal. The one with the most points won."

Segal said the Connecticut Counseling Center, in addition to working with
Danbury Hospital, will have to negotiate with the state for a contract to
run the program. Among the items to be decided is how many people the
program will be allowed to serve. The company also will need a license from
the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.

Bilangi said he hopes to have the program running by the end of summer. The
hard part will be finding a location for the clinic. Opposition to a
community-based clinic forced the hospital to create its hospital-based
operation in 1990. Since then, there have been regular rumors the hospital
planned to move the clinic into the city. Each time, there was a public outcry.

Bilangi said his team will try to find a location without a lot of
neighbors, but with adequate parking. He said it would keep the city
informed of its work and even hold a public meeting so people can express
their concerns.

Segal said finding a site is always the toughest hurdle for Connecticut
Counseling Center. He said he hopes Danbury residents realize how important
methadone is in helping people escape the debilitating existence of heroin
addiction.

"It's a needed service in the community and we want to place it there," he said.