In letter to Department of Health, Lynnwood mayor expresses ‘serious concerns’ about methadone clinic

Community members at a protest against the methadone clinic Jan. 14. (File photo by Jasmine Contreras-Lewis)

Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell on Tuesday released a copy of a letter she sent Jan. 12 to Washington State Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Dr. Umair Shah, noting her  “serious concerns” about the department’s process for licensing a proposed methadone clinic in Lynnwood.

The mayor also requested that DOH not grant approval for the clinic — to be operated by Acadia Health Care — until issues that city officials and community members have raised about the licensure process are addressed.

The Lynnwood City Council has received numerous comments from residents opposing the clinic’s location adjacent to the Alderwood Boys and Girls Club. Local opposition has also included accusations of misconduct involving public officials who support the project, as well as a lack of transparency. Organizers have held two protests at Lynnwood City Hall and a third demonstration in front of the proposed location at 2322 196th St. S.W. in Lynnwood. The clinic is set to open at the end of January if it receives permission from the DOH, which is responsible for licensing the facility.

In her letter to Shah, Frizzell said she first learned of the proposed clinic after an online news story appeared about the proposal.

“As you can imagine, I was quite taken aback considering the first I’m learning of this new clinic and the licensure processing, was through a local news site, and not directly from the proposed clinic or the Department of Health,” Frizzell said.

After conducting additional research, the mayor said she learned that DOH employee Michelle Weatherly sent a letter to members of the Lynnwood City Council “the day before their scheduled holiday recess, as well as to the Snohomish County Council, requesting their input and notifying them of the scheduled public hearing.”

The licensure process for opioid treatment facilities “only requires the applicant to contact the ‘city legislative authority and/or county legislative authority’, which I believe is an inherently flawed process,” Frizzell wrote. “Noticing should include the City and County Administration as well as the legislative bodies.”

In addition, Frizzell criticized as “terribly incomplete” the “Opioid Treatment Program Community Relations Plan,” which DOH sent to the Snohomish County Council on Dec. 12. The plan, completed by Acadia Healthcare, was  “only minimally filled out by the applicant” and also “overstated the level of engagement conducted,” she wrote. “There are entire sections left blank, including the required section of holding a meeting with the local county and/or city legislative authority. The fact that the DOH accepted this as a complete Community Relations Plan looks as though DOH is just checking a box and not truly committed to fulfilling the intent of the requirement.”

“As you can imagine, with the complete disregard for community engagement and neighborhood notification, we have experienced a large number of community members who were completely caught off-guard and are angry,” the mayor’s letter continued. “There are many legitimate concerns and questions coming from our community with very little answers given. Most of the neighbors are concerned that the facility is located across the street from an active Boys & Girls Club and a little league baseball field.”

While the mayor acknowledged “that our State and our County are experiencing an opioid epidemic and our communities need treatment options,” she added that “the process and manner by which this facility is working to obtain an opioid license from the DOH lacks transparency and accountability.”

Here is Frizzell’s complete letter:

January 12, 2023
Dr. Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH

Secretary of Health, Washington
Washington State Department of Health
PO Box 47890
Olympia, WA 98504-7890

RE: Lynnwood Comprehensive Treatment Center OTP Application Process

Dear Dr. Shah:

I wish to share with you my serious concerns related to processing Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) licensing and the related requirements as outlined in RCW 71.24.590 and WAC 246-341. My specific concerns relate to a proposed Lynnwood Comprehensive Treatment Center located at 2322 196th Street SW, Lynnwood WA 98036.

December 13, 2022 was the first that I, Mayor of the City of Lynnwood, had become aware of the proposed opioid clinic in the City of Lynnwood. I learned of this from a local online news story which was posted following a request directly from DOH asking for a paid notice in their paper. As you can imagine, I was quite taken aback considering the first I’m learning of this new clinic and the licensure processing, was through a local news site, and not directly from the proposed clinic or the Department of Health.

After much research, I have come to learn that an email was sent by DOH employee Michelle Weatherly, to the Lynnwood City Council Members, the day before their scheduled holiday recess, as well as to the Snohomish County Council, requesting their input and notifying them of the scheduled public hearing. The OTP licensure process only requires the applicant to contact the ‘city legislative authority and/or county legislative authority’, which I believe is an inherently flawed process. Noticing should include the City and County Administration as well as the legislative bodies.

Attached to the email sent to the Lynnwood City Council and the Snohomish County Council from the Department of Health on December 12, was an Opioid Treatment Program Community Relations Plan, only minimally filled out by the applicant – WCHS, INC. (revealed later to be dba Acadia Healthcare). This Community Relations Plan is intended to detail how the facility will conduct outreach and engage with local elected officials and other community stakeholders. The document filled out by WCHS, INC. was terribly incomplete and in fact overstated the level of engagement conducted. There are entire sections left blank, including the required section of holding a meeting with the local county and/or city legislative authority. The fact that the DOH accepted this as a complete Community Relations Plan looks as though DOH is just checking a box and not truly committed to fulfilling the intent of the requirement.

Additionally, the notice of the public hearing issued from DOH went to the public on December 12, and the hearing was scheduled for an early afternoon on December 29, a date and time when many people in our community are distracted by the holiday season.

As you can imagine, with the complete disregard for community engagement and neighborhood notification, we have experienced a large number of community members who were completely caught off-guard and are angry. There are many legitimate concerns and questions coming from our community with very little answers given. Most of the neighbors are concerned that the facility is located across the street from an active Boys & Girls Club and a little league baseball field.

I truly understand that our State and our County are experiencing an opioid epidemic and our communities need treatment options. The process and manner by which this facility is working to obtain an opioid license from the DOH lacks transparency and accountability. We sincerely hope that WCHS, INC. (dba Acadia Healthcare), takes the feedback they have heard from the City of Lynnwood and the neighboring community members, and develops a robust community engagement plan to include a community safety plan. If the Department of Health is intending to move forward with this licensure, there must be accountability on the part of the facility to be a good neighbor and community partner.

I am more than happy to discuss my concerns with the OTP licensing process and the RCW that outlines the process. There needs to be a more transparent approach that upholds accountability on the part of the facility, so that our community members in need, can truly find the therapeutic rehabilitation they deserve.

I ask that no approval be granted from the Department of Health until steps are properly taken by WCHS, INC. to fulfill the Community Relations Plan, meet with stakeholders and address any identified concerns as noted in the DOH’s certifications steps for proposed programs, and collaborate with our Lynnwood Police Department on a community safety plan.

Sincerely,

Christine Frizzell
Christine Frizzell, Mayor

CC: Michelle Weatherly, Department of Health
Lynnwood City Council
Snohomish County Council
Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers
State Representative Lauren Davis, District 32

  1. You may not be opposed to a place for recovery if your family was directly affected by the opioid crisis.

  2. In my opinion, an opioid treatment facility on every block in the city should be welcome. The more help available, the less likely (one might hope) we are going to lose family and friends to this crisis. And, with the addition of fentanyl with nearly all opioid pills… we haven’t any time to waste getting our loved ones off these killers. Anyone opposed to this or any facility offering recovery from the murderous effects of these drugs… hasn’t lost a 32 year old son to the unexpected fentanyl accompanying almost all opioids sold, without prescription. Please, let us not be N.I.M..B.Y.s with regard to the need for this facility. The issue is too important.

    Sincerely,

    Rachel Chesser

  3. The center will need tenant improvement permits to engage in the construction.
    If the city and the mayor really wants to delay or relocate the project, it is within their powers through land use and permitting to better regulate and control the location of these services.

    I really don’t understand why they picked that location. It is not near transit a good transit corridor for patients to get there and back. Its not even in the Zip Shuttle service area. Lynnwood has lousy internal transit regardless for getting around in the neighborhoods.

    There is a real need for services like this, and an ever greater need law enforcement to hunting down the king pins who are producing and importing and get them into prison so we wont need this type of service.

    1. At this moment in time… the need for treatment is as great as the need to shut down the supply. If we went with the notion of ‘supply and demand,’ the fewer customers, the less there is a demand for these killers (product and providers). I could not agree more the players at every level must be shut down. Until that time, let’s take good care of the souls who manage to survive the poison and get them off these, in the best manner possible. The Opioid Treatment Center is the probable answer. And get the bastards who killed my son.

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