UPDATE:
According to Cook Inlet Tribal Council spokesman Tim Blum, the Ernie Turner Center will remain open as the center adapts its treatment procedures to changing federal regulations.
The Cook Inlet Tribal Council issued the following statement Sunday:
“Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s Ernie Turner Center in Anchorage will remain open and continue to provide its critical detox services for all participants. In the wake of recent federal regulatory changes regarding treatment for opiate addition, we are quickly reacting to these changes and will reassess our treatment protocols accordingly through the appropriate partnerships and medical direction. In the meantime, Ernie Turner Center will continue to serve admitted opiate participants and refer all others to primary medical providers until the new protocols are in place.”
ORIGINAL STORY:
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s only residential detox facilities for opiate addiction have closed due to a federal regulation change.
The Juneau Empire reports that the 14-bed Ernie Turner Center in Anchorage and the 16-bed Gateway to Recovery Detox Center in Fairbanks are no longer accepting patients withdrawing from opioids, though they remain open for detox from other substances like alcohol.
Both centers had physician assistants administer the medications Tramadol and Zyprexa for opiate detox, but according to federal regulation, only a Drug Enforcement Administration certified doctor can administer those medications in a detox setting. Because neither facility has such a doctor, they no longer can treat opioid withdrawals.
An official with Gateway to Recovery said the facility hopes to reopen the beds for opioid detox by the end of May.
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