Jun 14, 2016 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – A partner of an organization that plans to open a drug treatment center in Waynesburg’s business district said Tuesday her group will offer a comprehensive outpatient recovery program for people with opioid addictions.

Marisa Terry, a partner in The Bridge to Wellness, said the center will not be just a “pill mill,” but will provide a complete program that includes counseling and therapy with recovery specialists and a certified doctor on site.

The treatment will involve the use of buprenorphine-naloxone, known as Suboxone, which she called a proven, “evidence-based medication” for addiction treatment. However, Terry said, no medications will be available on-site, although prescriptions for the drug will be written there.

Plans by the center to open a clinic at Victoria Square, across the street from the borough building, were discussed at a Waynesburg Borough Council meeting Monday. Councilman Mark Fischer questioned whether the center would provide legitimate treatment or be simply a “pill mill.”

A hearing on the center will be held July 5 by Waynesburg Zoning Hearing Board.

Though the center was determined to be a permitted use in the downtown business district, that determination was challenged, requiring a zoning hearing, assistant borough manager Bryan Cumberledge said.

Terry, a nurse and recovery specialist, said the group, based in Clymer, Indiana County, plans to offer a “comprehensive approach to recover, that’s our goal.”

People who enroll in the treatment program will first receive an assessment to determine whether the program is appropriate to them, she said.

Each person will be seen by a doctor and recovery specialist and have a personalized program developed to address their particular needs, Terry said. The doctor will determine how often a patient might have to be seen, she said. But the center will maintain contact with the patient through regular telephone calls to check on their progress and provide any support that may be needed, she said.

Terry said the group also hopes to specialize in working with women who are pregnant and have addiction problems and explore alternative therapies, such art therapy and yoga, to help a person’s recover from addiction.

Though Terry called Suboxone a “miracle drug” in dealing with opiate addictions, she said, the idea of the program is not to “substitute” one drug for another but eventually to wean a person off all medications.

Terry said she has worked in the drug recovery field for about eight years. The Bridge to Wellness was only recently formed and is currently developing plans to open centers in Waynesburg as well as in Erie and Punxsutawney.

Terry said the group hopes at the start to open the Waynesburg center one or two day a week but eventually increase its hours to address the need for its services in the community.

“We’re committed to making a difference,” Terry said, speaking about the epidemic of opiate addiction and the need for recovery services.

“I’m very proud of this and I’m excited and were ready to go,” she said.