The Newport City Council voted this week to help fund Lincoln County’s first inpatient substance abuse and recovery facility. The city will contribute the first five years of settlement payments from a national opioid lawsuit—about $73,000 dollars.
The location of the proposed 16-bed treatment center will be in a former adult foster home, north of Yaquina Head. The taxing entity Pacific Communities Health District purchased the 4,600 square foot building for nearly $1 million dollars. Coastal Foundation’s Ursula Marinelli said $6 million more is needed for the remodels.
“We have a pretty robust fundraising plan in place,” she told the Newport City Council. “Toledo contributed $15,000, Waldport contributed $2,531, a dollar for every resident.”
Marinelli also said Lincoln County has approved $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding towards the project. The timeline for Samaritan Health Services to begin seeing patients is Spring, 2024.
Based on data from the Regional Mental Health/Substance Use Disorder Coalition, which includes local tribal, public health and law enforcement representatives,
1,933 Lincoln County residents were diagnosed with substance abuse disorder last year and at least seven residents died of opiate toxicity.
During the Monday meeting, city council members heard from Marinelli about specific design plans for the 16-bed inpatient facility. One issue discussed was "gender specific" rooms or wings. She said they’ve hired a Portland based architecture firm and consulted with the Bravery Center and other members of the LGBTQ community about this.
“We learned very loudly, and clearly-- you don’t just have one room for the non-binary person. You don’t isolate people," she said. "So, we’ve had some great conversations with the architects about how to make it so that everybody is safe, but everybody feels that they have a place there.”
The building won’t be “assigned by gender,” she stated. And facility policies will also accommodate an inclusive environment.
Samaritan Health Services is a non-profit health care system. Marinelli told the council members, this means “no one will be turned away for inability to pay.”
