Detox Center gets short reprieve

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

PAGE, Ariz. — The detox center in Page has gotten a slight reprieve from its funding worries.

At least until the end of the year.

After the Navajo Nation announced that it was withdrawing its financial support, the center was expected to close in April. However, the Arizona Regional Behavioral Health Authority will pick up the slack through the end of the year.

The center costs about $424,000 annually to operate. Last year, the Nation gave $139,000, the city of Page chipped in $39,000 and regional health authority put up $250,000.

Detox center CEO Mick Pattinson is hoping the Nation will reconsider its support, since 90 percent of the center’s clients are Navajo.

However, the Nation plans to take the money from the Page center and use it toward a new treatment facility planned for Shiprock.

Open for little more than a decade, the center may be a victim of its own success.

When it started, it served some 3,000 clients. Last year that number dropped to 1,000.

That shows that the center is effective, Pattinson said.

The center began after a harsh winter that saw several alcohol-related deaths. Navajos from nearby communities, such as Kayenta or Le Chee, come to Page to drink, and then have no way to get back to their communities.

Alcohol is not allowed on the Navajo reservation.

Even if the Navajo Nation does not change its mind about funding, the Page detox center will stay open, Pattinson vowed. Though, he added, it may mean scaled-down services and fewer clients helped.