Addressing Opioid Overdose: New Aegis Treatment Center in Eureka

Eureka, Ca., (KIEM)- A location for a new methadone addiction treatment center has been identified after last week’s opioid town hall in Humboldt County. The brand new Aegis Clinic is set to be installed at the former location of Eureka Pediatrics, which is right across the street from a family dentistry practice.

The treatment center could be a major boon to the community, as Humboldt ranks in the top ten for opioid overdoses in the state. Under the Obama administration, $1.1 billion were sent to all 50 states to address the opioid epidemic, some of that has filtered to the redwood coast.

This new facility uses medication assisted treatment will be funded in part by that federal grant money. A far as the treatment provided at Aegis clinics, the Director of Strategic Planning (Matthew Adelman) talked to News Channel 3 about the their philosophy.

“We’re addressing two components. It’s the psychological components of addiction as well as the physiological components of addiction.” Adelman explains, “The medication addresses the physiological. What the medication allows us to do is to normalize, stabilize the brain chemistry. It doesn’t produce euphoria nor a high and it eliminates withdrawls.”

But community members aren’t just concerned about the care given to those who face addiction. They’re also concerned about it’s impacts on the area where it’s set to be installed.

Adelman addressed that concern as well saying, “We employ a clinic concierge, essentially this is someone who is ensuring that we don’t have loitering, smoking, we don’t have parking issues. So, on the front end that is probably the number one way that we ensure that we are good community partners.”

 

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