A Northwoods-based addiction treatment facility is trying a new approach to treatment that they hope becomes a model for others to follow.
Executive Director of Family Health Center, Greg Nycz spoke last week after the opening of the Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center in Minocqua.
He says they've worked with physicians to reduce opioid prescriptions, and have come up with testing and treatment in the hope of ending a troubling cycle....
"...if you've gone down the road and become and addict, a lot times you end up with jail time, and if you've had jail time and you've tried to get money for this, how do you recover from this in our society? Who is going to hire you? If we don't pay attention to that, the literature says addiction plus jail equals more addiction, but addiction plus employment means less addiction..."
Nycz says if they're successful in their new approach, it could be a model for others to follow....
"....we need to find a way to link all our collective assets and energy in order to return better value to the community, and to establish a model of how this could be done elsewhere...."
The Family Health Center is part of the Hope Consortium involving 20 organizations in Forest, Iron, Oneida, Price and Vilas Counties, Lac du Flambeau, Forest County Potawatomi and Sokaogon Chippewa Tribes.
The new facility is on Highway 70 west Minocqua.