What private opioid treatment services means for SRHD employees

Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) is amid a months long process to determine if it should privatize its treatment services division, which currently serves 1,000 patients, connecting them with methadone and mental health services to manage opioid addiction.

The process, which began last spring has been a tense one led by SRHD Administrative Officer Dr. Alicia Thompson. Thompson recently completed Phase One of the Feasibility Study, which is what they're calling the process to determine if the division should move forward towards privatization. During phase one, Thompson gathered and analyzed feedback from a variety of stakeholders, including patients, employees, and service providers identifying the impacts privatization could have on them.

At the September board meeting, Thompson presented her findings and two separate recommendations: One to end the process now and keep the division, establishing a designated fund for it within SRHD to ensure it can save and invest money in its future to grow. And another to continue the process and start looking into the legal ramifications and physical process of converting the division to private or selling it off to a private provider.

The board of health was scheduled to vote on those recommendations during the September board meeting, but after community feedback against privatization and a robust discussion among board members, they decided to postpone the ultimate decision until the October board meeting, which is set for Thursday, October 31.

Prior to the September board meeting, we sat down for a Q&A with Susie Saunders, the representative of Protec 17, the union for SRHD’s Treatment Services Employees. We asked Saunders to weigh in on the potential privatization of the division and what it could mean for employees. What follows is that conversation lightly edited for clarity and time.