Drug and alcohol addicts in Acadiana will no longer get some of the help they need at University Medical Center.
The hospital is closing its detox unit as part of the budget cuts there.
One former patient says losing the area’s only public detox facility could make it harder for addicts to find the help they need.
“I didn’t have any other option, i had to do something.”
Dean Osgood checked into UMC’s detox unit in august 2009 and has since been clean and sober.
“It’s just changed my life, starting there then moving onto a recovery program.”
Osgood goes to UMC every sunday to share his story with others struggling with addiction.
“If people don’t have a place to go, people die from this disease.”
Osgood says many addicts simply don’t have the money to go to a private treatment facility and therefore rely on public hospitals like UMC, the only facility of its kind offering detox services in this area.
“I was fortunate. I had insurance that would cover it, but boy a lot of these folks just don’t have any money, don’t have any resources.”
Osgood says this unit is essential to the recovery community in Acadiana. He says detoxing is just the first step and resources that will no longer be available are vital to continuing on the road to recovery.
“Thats where it starts, without that in this recovery community I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”
The hospital will still provide medical detox, but other support like therapy and counselors will no longer be available.
The detox unit is one of several cuts the hospital is making.
Today, notifications of impending cuts went to employees. Some of them could lose their jobs.
The Louisiana Civil Service Commission must approve the plan before cuts take affect.
Of the 130 employees receiving notice, about 77 will likely be let go. Employees could find out about layoffs as early as the end of this month.