Addiction Treatment Network To Close In Metro Denver

THORNTON, CO -- Arapahoe House, a safety-net addiction and alcohol treatment center that served Metro-Denver's indigent patients for 42 years will close Jan. 2, the CEO announced Friday. The state's "largest provider of substance use disorder treatment" can no longer afford to operate because cost of care is greater than funding available from state and federal sources such as Medicaid, said Mike Butler, president and CEO.

"This is devastating for our community and the state as a whole," said Butler, in a statement. "We care for an extremely vulnerable population including pregnant women and women with children. Without Arapahoe House, there are precious few places for these individuals to go. Despite a widespread and growing opioid crisis in Colorado and nationwide, state and federal funding for addiction treatment remains inadequate."

Arapahoe House currently serves nearly 5,000 patients per year and has approximately 200 employees, a statement said.

Butler said Arapahoe House already has eliminated programs serving youth and individuals coming out of the criminal justice system in order to preserve its residential and outpatient programs, but that was not enough, a statement from the organization said.

Colorado State Senator Cheri Jahn (D-Wheat Ridge), a member of the Business, Labor and Technology Committee and an Arapahoe House board member, said that a recent announcement by the Trump Administration naming the opioid epidemic as a national crisis brought no additional dollars for treatment.

"Treatment hasn't been adequately covered for years, and it's only going to get worse," said Jahn in a statement. "Substance use disorders are a serious, highly stigmatized health condition and individuals suffering from addiction need and deserve access to high-quality treatment."

No new patients will be accepted at the treatment centers in Aurora, Denver, Lakewood, Littleton, Thornton, Wheat Ridge, and Westminster, but Butler said Arapahoe House's call center (303-657-3700) will remain open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, through Jan. 2.

"We will continue to do everything we can to try to connect people to any available services," said Butler, "and have increased the call center's capacity to do so."

The organization provided sobering statistics about the population served by Arapahoe House: Only 11 to 16 percent of Coloradans receive the substance use disorder treatment they need and an accidental drug overdose occurs in Colorado every nine hours and 36 minutes, a press release said.

"Studies show that every $1 invested in treatment saves $12 that would have been spent on services such as child welfare, health care and the criminal justice system," said Jahn. "Treatment is good health care and a good investment; however, adequate state and federal funding for treatment simply is not provided."

Image via Arapahoe House