Our community has waited a long time for a place like UK's mental health emergency room | Opinion

August 14, 2024

Laverne Zabielski

It’s been a year since the Lexington Opioid Abatement Commission (OAC) was appointed by Mayor Linda Gorton. At their first meeting on September 15, 2023 she said, “We need to have a plan to use the funds for a sustainable solution. . . being creative and looking at how we can make Lexington even better. . . . I trust you are going to find a good path forward to recommend to me.” 

The OAC has been listening to professional presentations by organizations and to personal stories from the public for several months. They have hosted two Town Halls. These Commissioners are charged with making opioid remediation suggestions to the Mayor. This is not an easy task. They will have to make distinctions between what is necessary and feasible now and what is part of a long term sustainable vision. In other words, what can we have in place, should our grandchildren fall prey to this horrible social disease?

 The Commission has been divided into two workgroups: one focusing on Prevention and Treatment and the other on Recovery and Support. Their meetings will be open to the public. I encourage the public to pay attention and attend. The time for standing on the sidelines, being judgmental while offering facile solutions is over. This disease is affecting families from every socio-economic class. 

Recently I have learned about EmPATH which stands for Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing. Their website, https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/services/empath, states “UK HealthCare EmPATH is the first program of its kind in Kentucky. It is specially equipped to quickly treat adult patients undergoing mental illness and substance use crises.”

 Wow! This has been in the making for a long time and I have been wishing for such a place these past five years as I struggled with my adult daughter’s addiction. How many times have I driven around Lexington wondering where we’re supposed to go? She is now in recovery, but why did it have to take four years to find help?

You would think, by now, some sort of office for those with substance use disorder (SUD) or opioid use disorder (OUD) would have been created, with one central number addicts or members of their family could call to ask where to go for help. It sounds so easy, all of these different detox and rehab places opening up advertising 24-hour access. But it’s not really like that. 

The hardest part of entering a recovery program is the concept of being “willing.” If this willingness to change and join the program is essential, and it is, why don’t we have specialists who concentrate on helping the addict become willing? Those suffering from opioid use are not stupid. Yet they are constantly bombarded with conflicting messages. For instance, it has been said that it takes two years to rewire their brain. And then they are told they have to be willing to make up their mind to go into the program. How does one become willing when their brain has been totally rewired? Who and where are the specialists who understand and know how to communicate with people with a totally rewired brain? 

Part of what happens in such a vulnerable time, is that when they do seek help and enter a facility there is so much waiting and wading through paperwork and insurance gathering that their courage and willingness wanes. Recently, when my friend had a stroke she was immediately taken in when she went to the ER, even though she had let her insurance lapse. They didn’t make her wait for hours to figure out how it was going to get paid for.

Those suffering from OUD need a central place like EmPATH, described on their website.  “. . . an evidence-based model of crisis care that provides trauma-informed, compassionate treatment. It is an alternative to traditional emergency departments, whose long wait times and sometimes overwhelming environment can worsen mental distress.” 

People with OUD need a calm, therapeutic environment where specialists can guide them through their internal conflict with willingness These specialist would help them sort through the maze of services, facilities and agencies to determine what kind of places they would qualify for and how it would be financed. 

Even better, a good path forward would be to be create housing where those with OUD could live, even though they are not yet fully committed to recovery, but they are seeking more information that they can trust and are willing to be accountable by attending classes to learn more about the science of their addiction. And in exchange, they would have a place to sleep and eat. This is what it means to treat those with OUD with the respect they deserve while they figure out the right path for their life.

To find out more about the OAC meetings email opioidabatement@lexingtonky.gov ,call 859-258-3834 or go to https://www.lexingtonky.gov/boards/opioid-abatement-commission

Published in the Lexington Herald-Leader, August 14, 2024