Turnaround Turned Off Clark County Treatment Center For Drugs, Alcohol Closing

Marcus Chambers feels the Southwest Washington Medical Center’s TurnAround alcohol- and drug-treatment program has helped change his life.

Chambers, 35, of Washougal, Wash., hasn’t had a drink since he finished a month of inpatient and outpatient treatment.

It’s a big step for Chambers, who has had a problem with alcohol since he was a teenager.

“I don’t know where I’d be today if I didn’t have that place to go,” said Chambers, who has joined a once-a-week “aftercare” program at TurnAround.

“I’m sure glad it was here for me. And Clark County is growing so much, I think they’re going to need more places like that.”

But the program is shutting down June 1, Southwest Washington Medical Center administrators recently announced. They also plan to cut the number of overnight beds to 15 in their psychiatric unit, the only one in Clark County, by converting an eight-bed section into an outpatient program.

The decision will create a void in Clark County. Last fiscal year, TurnAround had 263 adults and 119 adolescents as inpatients. The eight-bed psychiatric unit had 262 patients, and the 15-bed unit had 585.

The county has several outpatient alcohol- and drug-treatment programs, but the only other residential program is adults-only Day One in Camas. TurnAround also provides inpatient treatment for adolescents.

“With a community this large, it’s sad to see inpatient (chemical dependency) treatment eliminated and psychiatric services cut back,” said Mary DeVore, a registered nurse who worked at TurnAround last winter.

“The community is expanding, homelessness is rampant, and alcohol is the No. 1 condition doctors are seeing.”

Hospital administrators say the substance-abuse and psychiatric programs are losing more than $1 million each year because of limited reimbursement rates from insurance companies and the state.

TurnAround loses an average $3,000 on each Medicaid patient and $2,000 on each patient with insurance, said Dr. William Zieverink, the center’s director of behavioral medicine. The cost for treating each TurnAround patient is approximately $7,000. When there’s a shortfall, the hospital covers the difference by taking money from other clinical services.

The state says group health insurance has to offer a $5,000 chemical dependency benefit every two years, with a $10,000 maximum lifetime benefit, but some patients have used that up even before coming to TurnAround.

“A major issue here is the tremendous difference between the health insurance available for mental health and chemical dependency services, compared to all other medical services,” Zieverink said.

“If the step we have taken will foster a long overdue discussion in this community about behavioral health services, we’re all for it and will participate in the effort,” said Jeff Selberg, president and chief executive officer of Southwest Washington Medical Center.

With the closure of TurnAround, adolescents will have to go to Portland, Seattle or even Spokane for inpatient treatment.

“There have been times we’ve had 25 adolescents in treatment at different levels, inpatient and day treatment,” said Gerald Clausen, an adolescent counselor at TurnAround since 1985 and one of 60 people losing their jobs because of the closure.