WARE — Last week, the Behavioral Health Network launched one of the handful of mobile methadone clinics in the commonwealth and the only such facility in Western Massachusetts.
“I think it’s great,” said Andrea Crete, the director of public health for the Quabbin Health District, of which Ware is a member. “It is something the town and the surrounding towns can benefit from.”
Katherine Mague, senior vice president of BHN, said this part of the state is a “treatment desert.” She explained that someone coping with opioid addiction and seeks methadone treatment must go to centers in Springfield, Holyoke, Greenfield, Orange or Worcester.
The mobile treatment unit is parked at 75 Main St. in Ware with dosing hours Monday to Friday, 7-10 a.m. The entrance to the parking lot is on Bank Street behind the building. Intakes for new clients began on July 9, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during regular operating hours. The program is open to people 18 years of age and older.
Methadone is a medication that has been used for 60 years to treat opioid use disorder.
Registered Nurse Alison TellierFox, a senior project manager for BHN, said for a person seeking treatment in Ware or Palmer there is “significant travel to access methadone.”
TellierFox noted the need can be reflected in the overdose deaths. According to state statistics, in 2023 Palmer had 12 deaths, while Ware had four.
or people who believe overdose death is an affliction found in larger cities, TellierFox said, “It’s definitely a small-town thing. People don’t have access to life saving medications.”
She added this new mobile unit is part of an effort to target more rural areas of the commonwealth. TellierFox said that since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, there has “been a big push” for methadone treatment facilities.
There are 42 mobile clinics in the country, six of them in Massachusetts.
Dr. Ruth Potee, medical director for Substance Use Disorders at BHN, said, “This will be the first Mobile Methadone Program in this area, helping to reduce barriers to treatment access in Ware and surrounding towns. Methadone is one of the most effective treatments for opioid use disorder, especially in the fentanyl era. We are pleased the patients and families in the Quaboag Hills region will have ready access to this life-saving medication.”
For more information about the new Mobile Methadone Program, call 413-272-1333. Most insurance plans are accepted.
