Administrators of a 24/7 methadone clinic in north Phoenix were caught off guard by the volume of patients wanting treatment. So were neighbors.
Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Community Medical Services
By Stephanie Innes | Arizona Republic
People desperate to give up opioids are flocking to a bursting-at-the-seams methadone clinic in north Phoenix in such large numbers that clinic leaders are adding locations to handle the demand.
But the soaring client numbers have the clinic’s neighbors pushing back over the crowds of people and cars at the facility.
At one point in June, the 5,300-square-foot Community Medical Services clinic at 2301 W. Northern Ave. saw a record 1,400 patients in one 24-hour period, clinic leaders say.
The surge in patients over the past nearly 16 months coincided with a single change at the clinic, which has been operating at the same spot for more than five years. On Oct. 1, 2017, with the help of a federal grant, the clinic became the first 24/7 medication-assisted treatment center in Arizona.
