news-record.com

Guilford County's recently opened substance abuse treatment center is under a state-ordered suspension keeping it from accepting patients until issues such as oversight and medication security for its patients are solved.

The admissions were suspended beginning Aug. 15. The center at 5209 W. Wendover Ave. in High Point must send a plan to correct the problems on Aug. 25, which could be the earliest that the center could begin accepting patients.

State health officials cited the center for issues such as poor security for patient medications, failing to assure that those medications were administered properly and failure to properly supervise clients in the facility.

"The serious violations that were identified during the State's onsite survey of the Guilford County Substance Abuse Treatment Center have been corrected to assure the safety of the clients in residence at the facility," Billie Martin Pierce, director of the Guilford Center, said in a news release.

The county-run Guilford Center holds the license for the substance abuse treatment center, which is operated by Bridgeway Behavioral Health, a Missouri-based substance abuse treatment group.

The citations from the state included two Type A administrative penalties for "violation of North Carolina General Statutes related to Medication Requirements and Facility Design and Equipment," according to the release, and one Type B violation for a staff issue.

An annual survey on June 19 by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation, turned up the issues resulting in the violations.

The facility partially opened in March and opened fully in late June. The 56-bed center only accepts addicts with no insurance and can keep clients much longer than the standard 28 days that substance abuse programs typically require.

The center, in addition to providing standard substance abuse treatment, also offered nontraditional treatment such as gardening, and gave GED preparation courses and classes for computer skills.