New recovery center puts Tri-Cities in forefront of effective care | Opinion

Tri-Citians should be enormously proud of the Grand Opening of the Columbia Valley Center for Recovery (CVCR) this week! The facility shows that a vibrant community can confront a problem, listen to each other, learn, give and succeed in building a major and unique medical asset that is now the envy of the Pacific Northwest. No other communities – even those much larger than the Tri-Cities – have dreamt such a facility into existence.

No other communities have met their drug addiction and mental illness issues head-on, with a determination to give their residents the best possible chances for treatment and recovery.

The CVCR project is unique in many ways, including its grassroots citizen origin. It was founded by eight friends who formed a Recovery Coalition on a Richland back porch in 2018, with absolutely no funding, and grew as each segment of the community became involved. Local people ranging from professional treatment experts to addicted people and their families who had lived through treatment experiences both helpful and horrific contributed Ideas for the range and modes of services. The team wanted facilities and policies that worked and made sense for this community, without adopting “blueprints” from elsewhere.

Many important principles were set, including the extremely crucial open, “No Wrong Door” policy. It sweeps aside many of the capricious restrictions and requirements that prevent many addicted and mentally ill people from getting the treatment they desperately want. Crises in the diseases of addiction and mental illness can be as urgent as a heart attack, and getting quick, accessible treatment is essential.

The local team also insisted that the facility work cooperatively with law enforcement to bring sick, recidivist offenders to a place more likely than jail to change their behavior. Other key principles were flexibility in treatment methods based on individual needs, adaptability in addressing the full confluence of bio-psycho-social factors at play in any individual’s case, the use of medication-assisted treatment when appropriate under medical supervision, and family education and involvement in recovery.

The new CVCR represents a momentous stride in bringing drug addiction and mental illness out of the shadows of whispers, shame and stigma, and into the mainstream of modern medical treatment. Science has proved beyond any doubt that addiction and mental afflictions are real diseases, with physical, chemical and genetic origins, and they are treatable. Sometimes family dysfunction and foolish choices can be tipping points into the abyss of these conditions, but those factors never explain why some people escape and some become lost.

Some physical bodies are more susceptible, more easily and quickly addicted, and some brains tip more readily from common mood swings into devastating and unstable states. We’ve all seen it among acquaintances, family members and others. Bad or aberrant behavior can mask a desperate illness. That’s why moral judgments and harsh criticism will have no place in the CVCR. This facility will treat drug addiction and mental illness with dignity and not disgrace.

Now, all Tri-Citians will see the benefits of a safer, more hygienic community, lower costs in all levels of the criminal justice system, EMS and Emergency Room services, foster care and welfare. Advantages to businesses and the local economy are evident already. Congratulations to this whole community for supporting and welcoming this amazing new facility!

Michele Gerber, Ph.D., is the founder and President of the Benton Franklin Recovery Coalition. She is the author of a recent book: Witness to Addiction: My Son’s Journey and How Each Person Can Fight America’s Opioid Epidemic.