We must work to keep Valley Forge Medical Center from closing
In the coming months, Montgomery County may lose an essential drug treatment facility — Valley Forge Medical Center. The Center provides much-needed services and support to people with substance use disorders, and it is a pillar in our region’s fight against the opioid epidemic. Unfortunately, financial pressures may force the Center to close; I hope we can avoid this outcome.
America’s overdose epidemic is a public health crisis, responsible for 72,000 deaths per year — the equivalent of a jetliner with 200 souls going down each day. The disease of addiction does not discriminate based on class, ethnicity or religion; it is in every community and affects every family.
The problem is especially acute in our area. Pennsylvania has one of the highest rates of fatal drug overdose in the United States, and in Montgomery County, accidental overdose deaths increased by over 300% between 2010 and 2016.
Despite these grim statistics, however, there is hope — if we eliminate stigma and prioritize recovery.
Montgomery County is taking measures to combat this epidemic. Beginning in 2014, PA Act 139 allowed law enforcement agencies to administer the opioid overdose reversal medication Naloxone in the field. Since that time, all of the county’s municipal police departments have joined the program and made Naloxone more widely available.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has also recognized that those suffering from addiction want help: more than 80% of all overdose victims accept assessment, ambulance transport to the hospital, and treatment.
Unfortunately, this is where things break down, because resources for treatment are in such short supply. Patients seeking treatment often have to wait six weeks or more to get into an accredited facility — a lifetime to a person in crisis. Many are forced to seek options outside Montgomery County.
The Montgomery County Overdose Task Force understands the challenge, and is working to strengthen treatment options and make them available to all who are suffering — immediately.
Valley Forge Medical Center is a crucial thread in this web of support.
The 86-bed facility in East Norriton Township opened its doors in 1973, providing an alcoholism detoxification unit. Over the next three decades, the Center expanded its offerings to include an Intensive Therapy Unit, residential detoxification, and short-term rehabilitation. In 2008, the Center responded to the opioid crisis by adding a groundbreaking pain management program. Today, Valley Forge offers a range of medical, psychiatric, counseling, and social services.
In August, however, the Joseph B. Wolffe Trust — which operates the Center — announced that after several years of financial losses, the facility would go up for sale; its operations aren’t guaranteed beyond January 2020.
If Valley Forge Medical Center were to close, Montgomery County would lose nearly 12% of its treatment beds — widening the gap between what our people need and what is offered.
I am hopeful that we can find another path — and that Valley Forge Medical Center will find an investor to help carry on this institution’s indispensable work.
Tackling the opioid crisis requires every tool in our toolkit, including legislation, education, and destigmatization. But it also takes concrete investments in our communities — and in the family members, friends, and neighbors who need our help. To that end, let’s find a way to keep Valley Forge Medical Center up and running.