LaPorte County Commissioner Dr. Vidya Kora convened a group of panelists and community stakeholders at the LaPorte County Complex on Wednesday afternoon to discuss a new, state-certified Opioid Treatment Program in LaPorte.

The new Recovery Center in LaPorte will provide outpatient medication-assisted treatment for those with opioid use disorders, focusing on the methadone delivery model.  The Recovery Center will be run by Porter-Starke Services and is co-located with Swanson Center’s outpatient office at 1230 W State Rd 2 in LaPorte.

Matt Burden, President/CEO of Porter-Starke Services, provided an overview on the state-identified need for an Opioid Treatment Program in LaPorte, the timeline of the project, and how they were able to overcome some of the initial hurdles of the project, particularly on funding.

“Without the generous grant support of the Healthcare Foundation of LaPorte to both Porter-Starke and Swanson Center, the operational start-up and necessary renovations could not have happened,” said Burden.

Dan Peck, CEO of Swanson Center, described that an array of outpatient behavioral health services offered at Swanson Center will complement services at the Recovery Center.  He also described how their “Detox Now” program, which is also funded by the Healthcare Foundation of LaPorte, will continue to help those seeking inpatient and residential detoxification services.

The Medical Director overseeing the Recovery Center, Dr. Sajiv John, MD, is a psychiatrist and addictionologist at Porter-Starke who has provided oversight and care at Porter-Starke’s Recovery Center in Valparaiso since its inception in 2008.  He described the effectiveness of methadone treatment in the context of other important aspects of treatment like counseling.  “There is perhaps no more highly regulated and effective form of treatment than methadone for treating individuals with opioid use disorders.”

Commission President Sheila Matias was also on the panel and thanked the members for bringing this level of care to the community for the first time, after many years of efforts in working to combat the opioid crisis.

The panelists took questions from the audience of interested stakeholders, which included Mayor Tom Dermody, Judge Michael Bergerson, Andrew McGuire from EMS, as well as representatives from Community Corrections, hospital and healthcare systems, community organizations, and the Healthcare Foundation of LaPorte.

The new LaPorte Recovery Center is expected to open in mid-March.