Expansion of inpatient drug treatment program funded by Westmoreland opioid settlement

The Westmoreland commissioners are expected to allocate more than $577,000 in revenue from the county’s opioid lawsuit settlement to pay for the expansion of a private drug rehabilitation center at Independence Health Frick Hospital in Mt. Pleasant.

The money will help finance a portion of a $1.4 million project that will add another 15 inpatient beds to Gateway Rehabilitation, which adjoins the hospital, according to county Human Services Director Rob Hamilton.

Gateway Rehabilitation operates a 30-bed inpatient treatment center in Mt. Pleasant that opened in 2016 and expanded in 2018. It also operates inpatient services in Beaver and Washington counties and 22 outpatient centers throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“Gateway is the only rehabilitation center that is actively looking to expand its beds and that can do it in the time allowable to spend the money,” Hamilton said.

Westmoreland received $2.5 million last year as its first installment of its portion of the national settlement of lawsuits filed against drug makers and distributors.

As part of a plan finalized last summer, the commissioners allocated funds for internal programs operated by the county through the courts, its Human Services Department and services provided by the newly formed Department of Community Relations and Prevention, which replaced the Drug Overdose Task Force.

Another $1.6 million was awarded in October to pay for local prevention programs and to three facilities that provide recovery services.

The county expects to receive about $48 million from the opioid settlement funds through 2039. Commissioners said they will approve the Gateway grant on Thursday.

James Troup, chief executive officer for Gateway Rehabilitation, said the Frick Hospital expansion is needed.

“We’re at capacity a lot, and we’re not serving the needs of the community because we’re full all the time,” Troup said. “These beds are needed because we want people to receive treatment in their own community.”

Gateway will lease vacant space from Frick Hospital to house the expanded rehabilitation center.

Hamilton said the expansion project meets the goals that county leaders set for use of the opioid settlement funds.

“People are dying, waiting for treatment,” Hamilton said. “We will open up more (requests for proposals) in the future. This is the first of hopefully a few of these projects.”