New methadone clinic opens

A new clinic on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids anticipates seeing growth in the coming months as it continues to use methadone, subutex, and therapy to treat addiction.

The Cedar Rapids CRC Clinic is an outpatient treatment facility that will treat people who are addicted to or dependent on heroin, prescription pain pills or other opioids. It also provides individual and group counseling.

The clinic, 5005 Bowling St. SW, opened on May 13.

The 3,875-square-foot building and its employees have the potential to treat up to 500 patients each day, but the clinic hasn't reached its treatment potential.

'We're going to continually see a big increase; the need is there,” said Jackie Scott, the clinic director.

The CRC is a national health care provider for behavioral services and is the largest in the country. The private company recently conducted a market study in Cedar Rapids before deciding what treatment options were needed in the area.

Heroin use has been on the rise in Linn County, according to the Area Substance Abuse Council. In 2009, 25 people entering the Area Substance Abuse Council seeking treatment cited it as their primary drug problem. By 2012, that number had grown to 104.

Scott said heroin addiction often comes on the heels of prescription pain pill addiction, as people who become addicted to their pain pills turn to heroin after they've exhausted their prescriptions.

'We hope the Cedar Rapids community will benefit from the addition of our new clinic,” said John Peloquin, president of CRC's Health Group's CTC division. 'Our goal is to help those with opioid addictions by offering the services that can best assist them to overcome their addictions and access to counselors who can guide them through their recovery journey.”

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