Commentary: Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino (D-12-Bernalillo), chair of the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, announced that public comments about the closing of Turquoise Lodge Hospital’s adolescent detoxification facility will be heard tomorrow, Friday, July 27th at 11:30 a.m. during the committee’s meeting. People interested are encouraged to attend the meeting located at The Rotunda, University of New Mexico Science and Technology Park, 801 University Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.
In the midst of an addiction crisis in New Mexico, the Department of Health (DOH) plans to close the state’s only detoxification facility for children 14 to 18 years of age. DOH claims it is closing the adolescent facility due to underutilization and will free space for additional adult patients. “We may need adult treatment expansion, but our children also need services. Many of our children have become addicted to opioids and heroin after being prescribed pain medication, and we have a chance to save their lives if we provide them the care they need,” said Senator Ortiz y Pino.
In announcing the closure, DOH identified other facilities that will “address the adolescent substance abuse problem” but none of those facilities offers detoxification for adolescents. “Closing the only detoxification facility for adolescents in New Mexico is irresponsible when it is desperately needed by children suffering from addiction,” added Sen. Ortiz y Pino.
The adolescent program was funded through an appropriation from the general fund approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor in 2013. “The specific appropriation was for adolescent treatment, and I don’t think the administration has freedom to shift it to another type of service,” said Sen. Ortiz y Pino.
The Turquoise Lodge program was designed to provide adolescents with detoxification and 30 days of inpatient treatment to prepare them for long term treatment at other facilities. Addiction professionals recommend that adolescents suffering from addiction participate in a detoxification program before starting other types of care to increase the probability of success for intensive outpatient treatment.
Trust for America’s Health reported that, from 2011-2013, New Mexico’s drug overdose death rate ranked second in the nation for individuals between the ages of 12 to 24 and death rates have doubled between years of 1999-2001 and 2011-2013 for the same age range.
Links to the 2013 press release from Governor Martinez’s announcing the start of adolescent detoxification at Turquoise Lodge and the DOH’s letter to stakeholders informing them that the program will end are included below.