When someone overdoses in front of the Talbot Center one day and the next shows up at the door for treatment, Randall LaFond sees great need in his East Toledo neighborhood.
Mr. LaFond, director at the Talbot Clinical Services of Ohio, is looking to establish an inpatient treatment center primarily for opioid addiction, located behind the center’s building at 732 Main St. to add its outpatient treatment offerings.
“This crisis is huge; it’s huge in our neighborhood and we’re going to work to address that piece of the puzzle,” he said. “We’re just this one little piece of the puzzle on this block trying to make a difference in this neighborhood.”
He envisions a short-term residential facility housing eight to 16 people who need more structured recovery options than an outpatient program provides. Residents would stay 30 to 90 days, though exact program details are still in the works, Mr. LaFond said.
“Maybe from a physiological, emotional, or environmental perspective, they need more intensive care,” he said, describing who might be a good fit. “Maybe they are homeless. Maybe no one in their family is sober.”
The plan for a new residential drug-and-alcohol treatment facility already has cleared several bureaucratic hurdles with little fanfare, largely avoiding the ongoing Toledo City Council debate about treatment centers elsewhere in the city.
Council’s zoning and planning committee last week heard a request to rezone a parking lot and grant a special use permit for a residential drug-and-alcohol treatment facility to accommodate the expansion, located in Councilman Peter Ujvagi’s District 3. The Toledo Plan Commission recommended its approval.
It is to go for a full council vote Sept. 25.
Councilmen in April put a six-month moratorium on new addiction-treatment facilities in District 4, which covers the central city and is represented by Yvonne Harper. Ms. Harper at the time said she wasn't against new facilities in her district permanently, but she expressed concerns about why they were disproportionately popping up in her district.
Data provided by the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions show 60 percent of the city’s residential and outpatient drug and alcohol treatment facilities are in District 4. Only 10 percent are in District 3, which includes East and South Toledo, despite East Toledo’s 43605 ZIP code consistently recording among the highest number of opioid overdoses and deaths.
Mr. Ujvagi, in voicing support for the Talbot Center’s expansion plan, said the proposed building is well-suited to be transformed into an inpatient facility.
“This is an organization that has been very responsible in the community,” he said. “They are providing a very important service. ... We need to continue to expand these kinds of facilities, and we need to have them spread throughout the city of Toledo.”
The Talbot Center has had a presence in East Toledo since 1986. It provides outpatient opioid programs, including medically assisted treatment and is one of two sites for the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department’s needle-exchange program.
Opportunity arrived when Mercy Health’s ambulance service in January left the adjoining space it had rented from Talbot for several years, Mr. LaFond said.
The space, which served as residential quarters for the ambulance service, already has bedrooms, common areas, and a kitchen. Now, he sees a blank canvas — ambulance bays as a larger kitchen or classroom space, and the existing bedrooms someday housing people who desperately need support.
Mr. LaFond said he hopes to have the inpatient facility open by March, pending final approval and construction schedules.
Contact Lauren Lindstrom at llindstrom@theblade.com, 419-724-6154, or on Twitter @lelindstrom.
First Published September 17, 2018, 9:08 p.m.
