New York Extends Waiver For Detox Treatment

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ROCHESTER, NY WXXI) – A New York state health department program that enables hospitals to surpass the usual limit on the number of opioid-addicted patients who can receive in-hospital detox services has been extended another year, but Monroe County hospitals are still not participating.

The state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services sent a letter to New York hospital CEOs on Christmas Eve, informing them that a waiver permitting hospitals to devote more treatment slots to opioid detox patients will last at least through 2019. That waiver had been issued in March and was set to expire at the new year.
In its letter to hospital CEOs, the state health department said hospital detox “has proven effective for rapidly and meaningfully engaging individuals in care.” 
Still, before seeking inpatient detox treatment in a hospital or anywhere else, Monroe County health officials are urging people to get an evaluation and be placed by a professional in an appropriate recovery program — which might not be inpatient detox.