Amanda Hughes remembers what it was like to watch the days crawl by as she looked for treatment for her addiction.

“It scared me because it looked like no one would take me,” said Hughes, 23. “There was one in Waynoka, but their waiting list was like four months.”

Hughes was trying to enter a system of health care services that have been cut back for more than a year. People struggling to overcome chemical addiction face restricted treatment options or delays at area rehab facilities.

Hughes was pregnant. And she already had a toddler son. Her family was trying to help her stay afloat until she could find a way to get her life under control.

“I had a addiction to opiates after I had my son on Oct. 29 of ‘07,” she said. “The pain medication they gave me after I had him, I just liked the feeling. So when the prescription was gone after a week, I went out and bought more. The more I bought the more addicted I got. If I didn’t have it, I’d be sick.”

The drugs were not hard to find.

“They (doctors) gave me Percocets when I had my son, but then I started buying OxyContin,” she said. “I used it for about two and a half years. I tried to get off of it several times, but it never worked. I just tried to do it on my own.”

Hughes said she found help through MONARCH (Muskogee Organization for Narcotic and Alcohol Referral) after beginning her search where she lived in Oklahoma City. Her 180 days there ended Nov. 23.

“We go to (substance abuse) groups; a different group every day of the week,” she said. “I go to two meetings a day. They have Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings every day. We have chores. I’ve been on the dining room, which is three times a day after every meal.

“My world is completely different. My priorities are straight. Now I can focus on my kids.”

MONARCH Clinical Director Rachel Neighbors said delays getting an addict into treatment may cause that person to abandon their search for help.

“We have women that call for treatment, and we have a waiting list of four to six weeks, and by the time we have a bed open they may have changed their mind or decided they don’t want treatment,” Neighbors said. “Some women decide that their life has become unmanageable, and they call, but then two weeks later they’re out using.

Neighbors said her staff works to maintain a link with women who have asked for admission, so they won’t lose their determination to be rehabilitated.

MONARCH operates two facilities, Neighbors said. Both are funded by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. One is a residential facility and the other is a halfway house. Average wait time for the residential facility is six to eight weeks. In the past, it has spiked at 16 weeks. Average wait time for the halfway house is shorter; four to six weeks.

Neighbors said MONARCH deals with the wait-time issue by providing clients with interim services like outpatient counseling.

“We assist them in finding a sponsor (a mentor in a free support group), in finding an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meeting,” she said. “So each week they call in and tell us what they’re doing to stay clean and sober until we can find them a bed.”

Traci Riddle, program director at MCCOYS (Muskogee County Council of Youth Services), said she and her staff are providing substance abuse and mental health services in the middle of hard times. Running at maximum capacity can cause delays.

“If a client comes in with a need for a higher level of care, we can provide services in the interim until we can get them to a facility where they can get more treatment,” she said. “If someone comes in and they need residential treatment and we can facilitate a referral, and let’s say they are put on a waiting list, we can find services for them until they get in, because that’s kind of the case with all the cutbacks in the state here recently.”

Riddle said people in the grips of substance abuse are likely to miss appointments or drop out of treatment.

“So, we demand that they come in for that first beginning (assessment) just to make sure that they make their appointment, because there is such a need for these services,” she said. “I’d say probably for every one person that comes in there are probably three others who need services that may never darken our door. The state issues a health fact book every year. For the last 10 years, Muskogee and Wagoner counties have been in the top 10 for substance abuse issues.”

Availability of services is in “direct correlation” with Oklahoma’s economy right now, Riddle said.

“And unfortunately the need for services has risen as the funding has gone down,” she said. “If someone calls in today, it may be next week before we can schedule an assessment. But any wait is no more than two weeks. We haven’t had to turn anybody away. We do provide interim services; they are always able to come in. No one is turned away.”

Leigh Combs, assessment supervisor at Green Country Behavioral Health, said their substance abuse services are short term.

“Our crisis stabilization unit offers a short-term stabilization,” she said. “We offer a detox program which is three or five days depending on which substance they’re withdrawing from. It is completely voluntary. They sign themselves in and they sign themselves out.”

Green Country also has a case manager who can help clients find long-term rehab.

Combs said clients who are diagnosed with a combination of mental health and substance abuse problems may qualify for outpatient treatment lasting six to 12 months.

“We do have a contract with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health so consumers come into our facility are not required to have insurance or anything like that,” she said. “Typically the time from screening to assessment and treatment plan is within five days.”

Combs said state funding cutbacks have restricted services for clients who have some means of paying.

“Our scope has really narrowed to a majority of indigent population,” she said, “and trying to refer our other clients if they have other options. We are part of this community and we want to help, and people can walk in at any time. Our hope, as the economy improves, would be to expand the services we are able to provide to each individual consumer. Like other non-profits, we’re looking for other funding sources like grants.”

Chris Wofford, director of clinical services at Bill Willis Community Mental Health in Tahlequah, said the money crunch has affected them as well.

“That’s where the rub is in the state right now; with the residential and the detox beds,” Wofford said. “Over the past couple of years, there is an barrier or access issue there with the budget shortfall the state is experiencing. For example we had a 16-bed residential male-only substance abuse program, and that whole unit was closed. Right now there is only one that I am aware of that is state owned-and-operated, and that’s the Lighthouse out in Woodward. We have positively responded by continuing to provide outpatient services to the best of our ability and refer folks to what services are available at this stage should they need a higher level of care.”

Wofford said the staff has focused their energy on remaining substance abuse services for clients from Cherokee, Wagoner, Adair and Sequoyah counties. As a state owned-and-operated facility, a client’s lack of insurance is not an obstacle.

Wofford said during the past fiscal year, they served 346 individuals with both a mental health and substance abuse diagnosis. Thirty-eight were diagnosed and then treated for substance abuse only. The facility does not have a problem with delays in treatment.

“Most of people seeking our services are self referred, or referred by the court, and they’re often told to just come straight here,” he said. “Or they might be referred by another service agency. We have outpatient counseling which usually consists of individual counseling, as well as group. And, psychiatric services are available for medications needs if they are identified.”

Where to find help



The following facilities provide a variety of services to help rehabilitate people with substance abuse problems. Cost of treatment is usually covered by Medicaid or by a state agency.

• MCCOYS — Inpatient and outpatient substance abuse services for both Muskogee and Wagoner counties. Many services for young people. Also offers outpatient mental health service. Information 682-2841.

• Green Country Behavioral Health — Crisis unit treatment for severe addiction cases. Short-term inpatient services for detox and help finding longer term rehabilitation. Offers a variety of mental health services. Information 682-8407.

• MONARCH — Female clients only. Residential treatment to help addicts end their chemical dependence. Halfway house to integrate former addicts back into the community. Information 682-7210.

• Bill Willis Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Center — Located in Tahlequah. Outpatient substance abuse treatment. Serves Cherokee, Wagoner, Adair and Sequoyah counties. Information 207-3000.

Reach Keith Purtell at 684-2925 or kpurtell@muskogeephoenix.com.