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Addiction

Finding treatment facilities in West Virginia is difficult

Here in West Virginia, finding any addiction treatment program nearby and at an affordable price is a challenge. But once those in need of addiction treatment for themselves or loved ones locate providers, the question of quality comes up.

How effective are various treatment systems and facilities? For most people, there isn’t much to go on other than recommendations from others.

Of course, there are organizations that recommend good treatment clinics. Go to addictioncenter.com and do a search on addiction treatment in West Virginia. Multiple options are shown in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, Delaware and New Jersey. Or try rehabs.com, which lists the 100 “top-rated” addiction treatment centers in the United States. Not one is in West Virginia.

Some of the about 14,500 addiction treatment facilities in this country are in West Virginia. Again, however, little guidance on them is available.

That situation should not continue much longer. A national nonprofit organization, Shatterproof, is beginning a pilot project to create a national rating system for addiction treatment programs. West Virginia, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York are states chosen for the initial study.

State Department of Health and Human Resources officials say the Shatterproof study will use data from three sources: consumer experience surveys, provider surveys and insurance claims.

If the pilot project proves useful, the rating system may go nationwide.

Getting addiction treatment is no guarantee of weaning oneself off a dependence on chemicals, whether they are opioid drugs, alcohol or something else. Clearly, however, an addict’s prospect of getting and staying clean is better with the most effective treatment tactics and strategies.

Studies such as that planned by Shatterproof take time. But the sooner the organization can get a rating system in place for West Virginia, the better. Substance abuse is killing Mountain State residents by the thousands. Knowing what works in addiction treatment can help lessen the human suffering.

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