Question from new member sckofclinicbs, please give some feedback

Hi everyone, one of our new members sckofclinicbs has given me permission to post a question that she has in the hope that some of you will give some feedback on their situation.

Quote :

Feel abused by the director and my counselor at the clinic I attend for questioning policies that contradict federal guidelines. They "forget" to put in my detox requests and state that if I complain my records will be forwared with complaint.
I wanted to transfer to another clinic and they said they would take my weeklies away, so I would have to go in daily at that clinic. I have never been late on a payment in five years. I need help in dealing with this clinic.

Theres gotta be someone higher to talk to, there always is, you just have to find
that person. What is the name of the clinic and where is it??

First of all, it is up to the clinic you are transferring to as to whether they drop your level until they "get to know you" better or what ever. Your clinic may drop your level before your actual transfer is done, but the clinic you are transferring to has the say as to how often you have to come in when you first transfer.

What I would suggest you do is contact the clinic you are wanting to transfer to and speak with them. Ask them about requesting the transfer from your old clinic for you and to work it out so that you don't even have to go back to the old clinic. Then your old clinic doesn't know until the new clinic calls that you are transferring. Then they don't have a chance to drop your level before then. Again, it is up to the clinic you are transferring to if they want to drop your level for a bit or not.

I was elig for monthly when I transferred to a new clinic and they had me do a two week bit but then immediately after that, I was allowed to go back to my monthly. It is up to the transferring clinic so I would for sure call and speak to them to find out what their policy is.

Thank you.

i called the new clinic and the said i would be at the step i left at. but they added that i coul talk to the doctor about the transportation problem and he might change the situation alltogether. I don't mind going to the new clinic but as transportation is a critical issue i would like to learn how to ask about a hardship exeption - I learned about that on this site.

floydfx05 wrote:

Theres gotta be someone higher to talk to, there always is, you just have to find
that person. What is the name of the clinic and where is it??

My counselor is the director. I called the state nurse in charge of complaints about methadone agencies and she said the clinics can add to the federal guidelines if they want to with regard to take-outs. I think that is also mentioned on here - that guidelines are just that - guidelines. I can see on here that all clinics are different and have different rules. Although that makes it easier for some, it makes it difficult for others. FOr example, my clinic will never allow more than a two week take-out. They told me this before i learned of the hardship exception. I know someone who gets a month take-out but he lives two hours away. My issue is lack of transportation during the day so I pick up on Saturdays. I don't/can't drive. I don't leave my house but to take my children to school at two differnt times. if i were to use city transportation, i would be on the bus 6 hours a day and would miss picking up my daughter from kindergarten. If i took the bus before, they would all be late to school. So i think the hardship exception would be okay in this situation.

did you think to ask the "new" clinic what their take home policy is? Will they ever let you have more than two weeks there?

I don't mean to dismiss your situation at all but I use to drive 3 hours one way to go to my clinic. Finally one opened up closer to me but i still drive 1 1/2 hours one way so I have a 3 hour round trip drive. I also have young children in school and a job that I have to get to by 9AM. Right now, because of a situation I was in dealing with kidney stones and surgery, I am on once a week but normally I do get once a month. It is very hard on me, I don't like to drive and because I have to be at work so early I have to leave my house at 4AM to get to the clinic and have time to get back for work. I don't sleep well and because I have to get up so early to go, there are times that I am so sleepy that I just have to pull over and rest a few minutes. There are a lot of other ppl here who drive AT LEAST an hour one way to get to their clinic, so it is not uncommon at all. Is it easy? No, not to mention the gas expense since gas has gotten so high but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Here is something else, I live in Louisiana and there is a clinic about an hour away from me, but they will NEVER give more than two weeks worth of takeouts. This is a state regulation and not just a clinic regulation so even if I went to another clinic in LA, it would be the same. SO, I drive 1 1/2 hours to a clinic in Texas so that I can get once a month takeouts. (Tx will allow once a month clinic visits as well as the clinic I go to) Do you know if the two week take outs is just a clinic policy at your clinic or is it a state policy? If it is a state policy, is this something you may could consider as well? Going to another state? To me it is worth the extra 30 minutes drive time to be able to get once a month take outs.

Your problem sounds very familiar to one that I had. I left a clinic like yours to go to one that was farther away and cost more money. Again just like Ruthann I am a 3 hour round tripper. The former clinic only gave 2 week take homes and told me basically the same thing you were told. They took all my privileges and phased me down to daily out of nothing more than retaliation. I left that clinic and went to a new one and I had my 2 week take homes back in just a few days. You mentioned that your counselor is your clinic director and this sounds exactly like the old clinic I went to as well. In my opinion, there should be a designated Clinic Director and not a counselor trying to wear two hats and do two jobs. This makes for a very biased meeting during any Grievance Procedure as well.

As you have found out, each clinic is ran differently so the new clinic might turn out to be a better choice for you. I agree that the best thing to do is to talk with the new clinic right away and get yourself into a new program. I hate to tell you this but it is really difficult to force a clinic to do anything they don't want to do. Best thing for you in the long run if your having a problem is to move your business elsewhere. Getting 2 weeks of medication at one time at a new clinic will be much better than going every day. Also, the new clinic might be able to assist you with monthlies as well.

Feel free to PM me if you would like more help.

Good Luck and Take Care!