Harrisburg health center struggles to enroll people in state’s opioid addiction treatment program
Photo by Ben Allen/WITF
Hamilton Health Center in Harrisburg. It’s been designated a “Center of Excellence” by the state, but failed to enroll more than 11 people in its opioid addiction treatment program through the first six months of this year.
(Harrisburg) — A Harrisburg health facility has struggled to enroll people in a new state program for opioid addiction.
While other Centers for Excellence have had their own challenges, Hamilton Health Center in the Allison Hill neighborhood stands out.
In the first six months of this year, Hamilton has enrolled just 11 people in the new program.
Every other center in the midstate is at least tripling that total each month.
Governor Tom Wolf set up the initiative, which costs $20 million.
He has said 11,000 people statewide should receive treatment by the end of this year.
Hamilton CEO Jeannine Peterson says its program director left before the center was up and running, but also argues the commonwealth set some pretty lofty goals.
“I think it was a misnomer on people’s part to think oh you come out the gates and you start running and it’s going to be totally successful. Our approach is different. We take our time, and I can guarantee you that our program will be successful,” says Peterson.
Peterson says Hamilton will improve its operations, and has applied for a state license to do initial assessments on site. It currently does not a license, so it has had to partner with Dauphin County to do the assessments.
“Initially we thought we had at least the staff on board to get it started, but then realized we needed to enhance that. So we wanted to take our time,” she adds.
“Have you ever seen a new program start up as quickly in three months?”
Peterson says with a new director, Jillian London (who most recently worked at PinnacleHealth), Hamilton’s Center of Excellence is on track. “We’ve hit the ground running,” she says.
In a statement, the state Department of Human Services says its concerned about Hamilton’s progress and is monitoring the situation very closely.
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