BAART clinic in Porterville on the way

New center will help those with opioid addiction

Those struggling with opioid addiction will soon have a place to go in the city to get help.

For some time, Porterville residents addicted to opioids such as Vicodin, fentanyl and heroin, had to travel to a clinic in Visalia called BAART Visalia to get treatment. However, because opioid addiction is a growing problem not only locally, but nationally, Shani Callaway, the director of business development with Baymark Health Services, said it was just a matter of time before another clinic opened in Tulare County.

“We have over 66 clinics throughout the country so we are expanding due to the epidemic unfortunately,” Callaway said.

Baymark Health Services was formed in 2015 with the merger of two well-known and highly-respected opioid treatment companies, BAART Programs and Medmark Treatment Centers.

Dr. Timothy Durick, the mental health director for Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency, said the new treatment center, BAART Porterville, is an amazing, and much-needed, addition to the city.

“It is a wonderful facility and is really meaningful to us because we saw this building before it was rehabbed so what a change,” said Durick of the new clinic, which is located at 89 E. Mill Ave.

Durick noted that the facility used to be an insurance company.

With opioid addiction on the rise and being featured in nearly every news article everyday, mostly about people overdosing and dying, Durick said he is very supportive of programs designed to help fix the problem.

“We treat individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, but there are a number of the individuals that we serve that also have alcohol and drug issues so this is a great support for those individuals that we provide services to as well,” Durick said.

Milena Padilla-nowakowski, the treatment center director for BAART Porterville, said in total there are 780 patients enrolled at BAART Visalia, over 100 of which live in Porterville and surrounding areas. She said one of the goals of the Porterville clinic is to make it easier for city residents, and others in surrounding areas, to get to their appointments. She noted, however, that once the Porterville clinic opens, it is not mandatory that patients switch over.

“They definitely get to choose and make that decision,” Padilla-nowakowski said, adding that a lot of patients at BAART Visalia can’t wait for BAART Porterville to open. Callaway agreed. “The last time I was in Visalia they were like ‘we can’t wait for Porterville to open,’” Callaway said, adding that lack of reliable transportation is a big issue for many patients. “They have friends that can’t get rides to Visalia.”

Durick said transportation for patients is simply terrible.

“That could take all day to drive to Visalia and back,” Durick said. “That is really challenging for folks, especially if you have to go everyday for a while.”

In addition to having another clinic, which greatly reduces transportation issues for patients, Padilla-nowakowski said counselors employed with BAART Porterville may also be able to help provide transportation or find a way for patients to get to their appointments conveniently.

With 20 rooms, including 10 counseling rooms, and an expected 500-plus patient census over the next five years, Callaway said the 5,000-something square foot clinic will eventually utilize the space upstairs, which she said is around 1,200 square feet.

“We actually aren’t using the upstairs right now, but we will need that space eventually so it is not going to go to waste,” Callaway said, adding that the upstairs will help the clinic serve more patients so no one gets turned away, which Durick said could be very damaging.

“What we are finding with mental health and substance use is that when someone comes in, that is a crisis point,” Durick said. “If you engage them then, you have a much higher probability of getting them into the program whereas, once they walk back out that door, your percentages go down significantly.”

“They really want that immediate treatment,” added Donna Ortiz, the deputy director of mental health branch integrated services for Tulare County. “Once they reach out, the chances of them coming back if they are turned away is small.”

Turning patients away is something Padilla-nowakowski hopes she never has to do.

“That is really difficult to do,” she said.

Another thing Padilla-nowakowski said is difficult to do is finding a medical doctor for BAART Porterville.

“We are currently seeking out doctors,” she said, adding that Baymark Health Services hires through an agency and direct hire.

When there eventually is a doctor on board, Padilla-nowakowski said they will primarily be responsible for monitoring medication for patients and conducting annual physical exams. Padillanowakowski said the doctor will be in the clinic two to three times a week.

Lab work, Padillanowakowski said, will be done in the medical assistant’s office. She said the medical assistant will complete all lab work, such as blood draws, in the office and send it out to the San Diego Reference Laboratory.

As far as treatment for patients, Callaway said they each will receive methadone treatment daily and are required to have counseling 50 minutes once a month.

“The whole purpose of it is so they can function with their daily activities,” Callaway said.

Callaway added that the treatment process is not merely switching one drug for the other, which she said is what some people think it is.

“It is more of a maintenance so they can go to work, they can live functional lives, they can have improved overall well being and be a part of society,” Callaway said.

Callaway said some patients eventually stop using methadone, while others need it for the rest of their lives.

“It is all dependent upon the patient, and of course that is under the medical director’s discretion,” Callaway said.