Southern Colorado county ‘hit hardest’ by opioid epidemic opens first treatment facility with state settlement funds
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ALAMOSA, Colo. — The first drug treatment facility in Colorado to open with the support of state settlement funds obtained from recent Big Pharma payouts opened in Alamosa July 11, bringing opioid rehabilitation services to one of the communities hardest hit by the opioid crisis.
“That makes this a really big deal and a model for the whole state,” said Colorado attorney general Phil Weiser at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Hope in the Valley treatment center.
Major pharmaceutical companies supplied 17,096,210 pain pills to Alamosa County between 2006 and 2019, according to a nationwide opioid tracker provided by the Washington Post. The total current population of Alamosa County is 16,500 people.
Over those 13 years, drug companies such as SpecGx, McKesson and Walgreens manufactured and distributed enough pain pills to provide each Alamosa county resident with 77 pills per year, the highest rate of any county in the state.
At the height of the epidemic in 2012, pharmacies circulated enough opioids into the county to supply 115 pills to each resident. The ratio of pain pills to residents marked Alamosa county as the one “hit hardest” in Colorado by the opioid epidemic.
While opioid prescription rates have steadily declined in the San Luis Valley and the greater United States going into 2019, Alamosa had the second highest rate of drug overdose deaths in Colorado between 2019 and 2022 with 63.5 deaths per 100,000 residents.
A drug treatment center was “one of the gaps” in confronting the crisis in the San Luis Valley according to Alamosa county commissioner Lori Laske. She said the people of the region felt it was “about time” a new rehab clinic opened.
“We're tired of losing family members. We're tired of losing friends,” said Laske.
Hope in the Valley is the first non court-ordered rehabilitation center in the San Luis Valley to offer 24 hour inpatient care to its residents. Inpatient rehab services provide round the clock housing for patients who are intensely monitored and assisted throughout the recovery process.
Before Hope in the Valley, individuals seeking inpatient treatment would have to journey up to Pueblo or sometimes even Denver to get the help they required. Now, those services are offered in the heart of Alamosa.
“We've always had to have people go outside of the valley and that doesn't work,” said Ruth Horn, the executive director of the San Luis Valley Area Health Education Center.
“Having the supports here, having families be able to come in and be a part of things, I think it's very exciting to have them there.”
Behind the drug treatment facility are founders Paul and Kimberly Reed.
Born and raised in Alamosa, Paul Reed struggled with drug use at an early age. He began working in the county’s roofing industry at age 18 which soon led him down a path to addiction.
Around 15 years later, Paul pursued recovery, but after failing to find an adequate rehab center near his home town, he was forced to travel to Denver for services.
Treatment cost him and his family around $30,000. Paul met his now wife Kim in Denver.
“Our motto as a couple is, ‘We cannot keep what we have unless we're willing to give it back’,” said Paul Reed.
After Paul’s rehab, the couple worked together to start Roofers in Recovery, an addiction recovery program catered to blue collar workers in the region. Workers in industries centered around physical labor continue to have significantly high rates of drug abuse.
Through the program, the Reeds helped provide sober living and treatment to more than 40 different individuals as well as mentorship and sponsorship to over hundreds more.
Although they didn’t intend to open a treatment facility, the Reeds jumped on the opportunity when the current building went up for sale two years ago. The Reeds worked alongside attorney general Weiser, county commissioner Laske and several other community partners to develop Hope in the Valley.
In late 2022, the regional opioid council that Laske helps oversee requested nearly $200,000 from the infrastructure share of state opioid settlement funds to help support Hope in the Valley as well as the San Luis Valley’s first CARR sober living complex.
According to Laske, that money made up “only about 10%” of the total cost to open the rehab center. The rest of the money was sourced by Paul and Kim Reed.
“I honestly think this is probably one the greatest accomplishments that we could ever have done,” said Paul Reed.
Hope in the Valley had begun their operations a month prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony. Operating without a Colorado inpatient license, the clinic was only able to offer limited outpatient services.
Yet, the community impact was immediate.
“If it wasn't for Hope in the Valley, I would not be here today,” said Alamosa resident Loriene Laboto, 55.
Laboto struggled with drug use early in life yet was able to attain a 15 year stretch of sobriety. That was until a year and a half ago when her dad died.
“When I say I fell, I fell really hard. I was doing drugs daily, and I got to the point where my body was telling me that if I didn't stop, I was going to die,” said Laboto.
“I was looking for an inpatient program, but nobody was going to let me in unless I had a referral.”
Laboto eventually found Hope in the Valley. When she expressed her situation over the phone the clinic said she could “come in right away.” She spent nine days in the facility, achieved sobriety and is now “feeling wonderful.”
Laboto had previously attended other rehab facilities, mostly in the Pueblo area. At Hope in the Valley, the educational opportunities were evidently better and all of the staff knew someone who struggled with addiction, she said.
“They were able to relate,” said Laboto.
Back at the ribbon cutting ceremony, Paul Reed had asked who in the crowd knew someone struggling with drug use, most members raised their hand.
While Alamosa had the most severe influx of opioids, several other counties in southern Colorado and the San Luis Valley received millions of pain pills. Most of the counties in these regions continue to see rampant rates of drug overdose death today.
José Esquibel, the Associate Director for the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention said that these communities were most likely targeted due to their local industries.
Alamosa county has three times as many people working in utilities and twice as many working in agriculture with respect to its population compared to Colorado.
“People are likely to get injured and they need to keep working,” said Esquibel. “Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to be prescribed an opioid.”
Esquibel said the work he and others have done to inform practitioners and curb prescription rates has been substantial, yet the damage caused by the opioid epidemic is continual. Nonprescription drugs such as fentanyl and heroin continue to have a high profile.
Between 2000 and 2022, Alamosa had one of the highest rates of drug overdose deaths from drugs other than prescription opioids in Colorado.
“Everywhere you look you can find it,” said Laboto.
With Colorado’s opioid settlement distribution system, regions are given the power to spend funds how they feel is most necessary.
Region 18, which includes Alamosa, has focused most of its funding on the treatment portion of the process while some regions such as Denver have focused more on harm reduction and prevention.
“It's really up to the local folks to decide what's most important for them and to look at their data, listen to their community, understand the needs and then decide the priority of how to use those funds,” said Esquibel.
“It's a much better structure than the state legislature or others saying ‘well we think everyone needs prevention’ and then the people who need treatment can’t get the help.”
There is now a projected $758 million expected to come into Colorado from major pharmaceutical companies over the next 18 years. Colorado is one of 12 states in the nation to publicly report 100% of their opioid settlement funds and their uses.
Those wanting to track the regional proposals and local fund requests can do so at the website for the Colorado attorney general’s office. A more comprehensive look into state specific opioid figures is available at KFF Health News which tracks opioid settlement money as well as national opioid health statistics.