Out of Tri-County’s ashes, service for clients will rise
I am chief medical officer at Tri-County Community Services, treating people with opiate use disorders using “The Alchemy Model.” After the Dixon murders, I got a taste of the hopelessness my patients can feel. I understood the desire to attack others or just walk away from the loss and the overwhelming pain. I felt in my bones the generations of suffering, disaster, defeat… the effects of settlement, subjugation and isolation. I understood Gabor Mate’s words, “All addiction is an addiction to painkillers.” We are all just trying to kill the pain.
Not seeing the truth is another way we try to “kill the pain.” Today with Tri-County, we don’t have that option. As I tell my patients and myself, we don’t have the option of running away from what’s happening. We must face reality and quickly get down to the business of service and healing.
Taoseños know it is inaccurate to place the blame of TCCS’ demise on the people who are now at the helm. We, the current leadership, didn’t create this beautiful problem called Tri-County. But here, today, now, we stepped up, we gave our all towards TCCS’ financial sustainability, and we made improvements that kept TCCS open for 14 months longer than it would’ve otherwise.
July 1, with the first realistic budget in years, we knew things were extremely tenuous. Then, suddenly, abruptly a major payor in the state failed to pay for services rendered.
We were forced to acknowledge that it couldn’t be done. We could not save Tri-County.
In the face of decades of mismanagement, $1.3 million of debt, underfunded or unpaid contracts, payors who wouldn’t pay and a Titanic of essential changes that just wouldn’t turn, there was too much against TCCS. Despite all the good – done by so many good people for so many years – the board finally conceded to what the state had determined over three years ago: Tri-County is not sustainable.
The chickens came to roost with a vengeance. Without immediate help from the state to force payors to pay, we are left with huge debt, no credit and no way to pay staff for their hard and gracious work. Despite what anyone outside of Taos may try to tell us, if we cannot pay staff, we cannot stay open.
I am not a board member. As CMO and a private citizen, I, you, and others may look back at this situation with the 20/20 vision that hindsight brings. We may find many ways this situation could have been handled better. That said, you will find no one involved who was not invested with great heart, great service and a fierce determination to serve the people of Taos. No one.
Taos knows the reality, long view, of what got us to this place. There should come a time for reflection and learning from the history of Tri-County. But that time is not now.
Now is the time to step up and step in for our patients, our clients, our neighbors, our families and our friends. There is real work to be done restoring services to the people of Northern New Mexico. Fighting, pointing fingers, “being right” is unproductive.
What we need is service: service to our patients, our clients, our community. We have a choice. Tri-County will be what tears us apart, or it will continue in its legacy of healing and be what ultimately brings us to working together.
I believe in Taos. I believe in Northern New Mexico, I believe in my inspirational, hardworking patients struggling with addiction and fighting for recovery. I believe we are the ones who will save us. Out of the ashes, there is a Phoenix that will rise, and it is up to all of us to nurture it.
So today, let’s face reality. Let’s not distract ourselves from the pain. Let’s show each other what our best looks like.
My deepest thanks to Tri-County staff, board members, my patients, my staff, my family and my friends, and all who have been there holding hope through these difficult times.
In Highest Service, Gina Perez-Baron MD Chief Medical Officer TriCounty Community Services