County Rescues Detox Center With $10,000 A Month Center Will Likely Stay Open Through 1995

Spokane’s refuge for street drunks dodged financial death Wednesday, and will likely stay open through the end of the year.

The county rescued the indebted detox center by agreeing to give an extra $10,000 a month to help keep it alive.

The center’s board of directors agreed Wednesday to accept the money and keep the center open - just one month after they announced it would close for good on July 1.

Continuing detox at 165 S. Howard relieves police, fire and hospital officials who feared they would have to fill the gap left by the center.

The Spokane Care Services van scoops up as many as 25 drunks a night and drops them into the center’s 45 beds, where they stay for up to three nights.

Without the service, community costs skyrocket. The fire department would respond to “man down” reports, and emergency rooms would get swamped.

When detox officials warned last month that mounting debt was shutting them down, they said the center needed $20,000 more a month to last another year.

The announcement also acted as a cry for help to the county, the city, the business community and the hospitals.

The county and the hospitals responded.

What the detox center settled for is about $13,000 more a month, creating a total monthly budget of about $45,000, most of which comes from the state.

“The board is extremely satisfied by the response of the county, and the hospital community,” said Ronald Springel, president of the detox board. But Springel said solutions still need to be found. “This is a short-term deal.”

The county money is guaranteed only for three months, with a limit of six months.

“We all felt it was a very, very important service,” said county administrator Jim Lindow, explaining why the strapped county could afford to help. Lindow also said the county commissioners agreed the aid couldn’t last long.

Along with the $10,000 from the county, the center’s other new windfall comes in the shape of an additional $2,000 combined from Deaconess and Sacred Heart medical centers. Between the two hospitals, the center now gets $6,000 a month.

Another $1,000 a month came from the city, as part of a homeless project grant.

Springel said the center’s board was disappointed the city didn’t offer more, noting the board had asked for about $5,000 a month.

While the city is ultimately responsible for a $400,000 loan it helped the detox center get, county government is legally obliged to provide a detox center.

Springel said money will only get tighter, and that the center must find cheaper ways to provide its services.

Proposals include eliminating hot meals and placing stricter limits on the frequency and duration of visits.

The center’s financial woes have been mounting for a while. Last year, the center’s board was overhauled after a county study detailed financial and management abuses.

The center is now months behind in its mortgage payments and debts with other creditors.

, DataTimes