Tulsa, OK- The State Board of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services approved a plan to cut nearly $7.3 million in spending by closing treatment beds, eliminating about 100 jobs and reducing contracts.
The plan also calls for the closing of The Bill Willis Dependency Unit in Tahlequah, which helps people who are chemically dependent.
The facility's director, Margaret Bradford, tells us the unit costs about $1 million to operate and with its elimination, some of the more economically-challenged patients could be the ones to suffer loss of treatment.
20 men live at the Bill Willis Unit in order to get substance abuse treatment. For some of them, it's the only way to get back on their feet.
It's something Phillip Kirk knows all about.
As a recovering alcoholic, he's lived to tell his story of addiction and recovery. He's considered to be a walking testament to the power of treatment by many.
"We don't have to go to the street to recover," said Kirk, who explains the beginning of the end of his addiction started with a conversation with his boss.
"Man had just told me I had a good future and I should do something about this and I should not drink," he said. "What did I do? I left his office and went straight to the bar."
The day after, Kirk vowed never to drink again. That was 30 years ago.
"I did it on my own for a month or two, and then I found I was having trouble saying sober. I did stay sober, but it was getting harder and harder."
He's stayed sober to this day.
But, other Oklahomans may not be as lucky and could be forced to battle addictions like alcohol on their own.
Oklahoma's budget crisis has forced most state agencies to cut at least 5-percent every month.
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health is no exception.
And treatment programs across the state, like the Bill Willis Unit, have been forced to shut their doors in order to cut about $16 million.
The facility's director says the hardest-hit patients will be those who can't afford treatment.
"We will do our best to serve them on an outpatient basis, until they can get into residential treatment, but at times access is going to be very delayed," said Margaret Bradford.
The unit stopped admitting new patients earlier this week. Bradford says the men have 60 days to complete treatment. We're told that shouldn't be an issue because the average treatment plan lasts 45 days.
Still, the future looks grim for Oklahoma mental health services.
Steve Buck, Deputy Commissioner for Communication and Prevention for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, says the latest cuts initiated have the agency "digging into the bone." He says programs like Tahlequah's Dependency Unit are considered non-elective in nature, meaning critical to the success of a patient suffering substance abuse issues.
He says some patients living in the four-county area served by the facility, Cherokee, Adair, Wagoner and Sequoyah could be forced to get on waiting lists to receive residential substance abuse treatment or forgo treatment altogether.
