Nugen's Ranch loses funding for detox unit

MAT-SU -- Nugen's Ranch will close its four-room detox unit at the end of this month, after negotiations to keep grant funding from the Division of Behavioral Health fell short of providing enough funds to keep the center open.

"The board decided they couldn't continue detox at the present time," said Karen Nugen-Logan, the executive director of Nugen's. "It is really going to affect [Valley residents in need of detox] … they will have to go into Anchorage -- if there is a bed available."

The $250,000 decrease in grant funds cuts out almost half of the money needed to run the unit. Nugen's spent around $489,000 last year to run the detox program, which requires 24-hour care. Nugen's employs one nurse and three licensed nurse practitioners, and will have to possibly lay off three of those caretakers now that the program is inactive. The state has said it would consider some funding if the local state and borough governments would also provide funds, but Nugen-Logan said with the cuts to those budgets as well, there really isn't a way for the local governments to help out in that fashion, at least not this year. She was quick to mention, however, that borough members already help by shopping at the ranch's thrift store and by purchasing vegetables from the ranch's garden.

'I'm upset this is going away; the board is upset," said Nugen-Logan. "We feel there is such a need for this service, but this is an expensive service."

Nugen's detox unit was used at a 64 percent rate; the state would rather see detox unit beds filled at least 70 percent of the time. Nugen-Logan said Sen. Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, fought hard but unsuccessfully to keep the unit funded, specifically pointing out that, unlike Anchorage, there is no community service patrol looking for inebriates and, unlike downtown Anchorage, the people who need detox and alcohol-related help are spread throughout an entire borough. Nugen-Logan said she is worried about what this closure will do to people in need of detox services.

"The regulars that aren't aware of this [closure] may show up at our door," she said. "We will have to get their family to drive them to Anchorage -- that's a long way to go if you have already driven from Talkeetna."

Some residents in need of detox may find their way to the doors of the emergency room at Valley Hospital, but the hospital is not equipped to provide straight detox services.

"At this point we do not provide detox services unless the patient has a simultaneous medical condition," said Lynn Wagoner, the chief clinical officer at Valley Hospital. According to Wagoner, one in four patients that come into the emergency room have alcohol or mental health problems. If such a person has no medical emergency and is only in need of detox treatment, the hospital brings in a case worker to help that person find somewhere else to go. Until now, their first call was to Nugen's; now they must call Anchorage.

Wagoner and Nugen-Logan met earlier this week to discuss how this closure will impact the Valley. There is a slight possibility that Valley Hospital may start up a detox unit, and Nugen's is hoping to reopen its unit next fiscal year. Until then, both Wagoner and Nugen-Logan promise to help Valley residents in need in any way they can.

"We are looking at the impact and what we might be able to do," Wagoner said.

Nugen's Ranch will continue providing long-term rehabilitation care in the Valley, and still plans to build its new facility at Point MacKenzie. They broke ground for the new facility on DATE, before the funding shortfall. For Valley residents to enter into the long-term program, they must remain sober at least three to five days before admittance to the program, which has a one- to six-month waiting list.