The closure of Star Vista detox center in Burlingame, California, leaves San Mateo County with only one operating detoxification facility, highlighting the urgent need for more resources to address substance abuse.
Star Vista detox in Burlingame, Calif. sits unused Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, after its Oct. closure, leaving San Mateo County with only one operating detoxification facility for addicted people to safely transition off drugs and alcohol. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)By 2021, Julio Franco had wrestled with substance abuse for a decade. He was addicted to meth and in psychosis, struggling to tell what was real and what wasn’t. He cycled in and out of hospital emergency rooms.
The first step toward lasting sobriety for the Redwood City native was a detoxification facility run by the nonprofit Star Vista in Burlingame, where he stayed for three weeks and weaned himself off methamphetamine with the help of trained staff. Once stabilized, he entered inpatient rehabilitation. Franco said he’s been clean ever since and works as an addiction counselor for Star Vista. Detox is a crucial spot to land for addicted people. But San Mateo County, the fifth-largest in the Bay Area, has only one operating detox facility after Star Vista closed its detox center in October. The reason? The nonprofit no longer has enough funding from the state’s health care agency to keep its doors open, said Chief Clinical Officer Shareen Leland. Reforms to Medi-Cal, the health care provider for low-income Californians, changed the way it reimburses providers like Star Vista. That went into effect in San Mateo County in July.due to CalAim, a massive expansion of the program , San Mateo County providers are no longer paid for outreach, meals and transportation for clients, or other costs they say are essential to programs. CalAIM, launched in 2022, is an expansion of Medi-Cal that allows health insurance to pay for certain things that aren’t considered traditional medical care — such as services to help homeless Californians find and keep housing. Proponents say it’s brought a much-needed infusion of money into the state’s overburdened homeless services syste
Substance Abuse Detoxification Healthcare Funding Medi-Cal
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