Background: The executive director of the Drug & Alcohol Commission, Rick Kirchner, has estimated the heroin addict population in Lancaster County to be between 5,000 and 10,000. Lancaster General Hospital reported earnings of over $113 million in 2008, one of the highest for any hospital in the state. LGH’s stated mission is “to advance the health and well-being of the communities we serve…”

The sharing of used needles is the largest cause of the spread of HIV/AIDS spread through the heroin addict population and from them to the general population. Having helped bring about the deregulation of the sale of syringes and thus removing any stigma from syringe distribution, the funder for the decade old Lancaster syringe exchange, NewsLanc’s publisher Robert Field, is redirecting his support to other charitable efforts.

The following is an e-mail exchange between Field and John P. Lines, Director, Public Relations & Corporate Communications, of Lancaster General Health:

QUESTION: I have heard a rumor that LGH was offering to provide some funding [for the proposed Urban League syringe exchange] subject to conditions. Is this correct and what can you tell me about LGH’s offer and conditions?

REPLY: LG Health is not providing funding, nor offering to provide funding, for the Urban League’s syringe exchange program. We provided Mr. Dixon an explanation for our decision.

QUESTION: Has LGH offered to fund Bethel AME’s current syringe exchange? If so, how much a month?

REPLY: LG Health has not offered to fund Bethel AME’s syringe exchange program.

QUESTION:  Also, LGH had initiated a program for the treatment of heroin addicts. Is it ongoing? How many hours a week is the clinic open? Is there more than one doctor at a time? How many patients are they treating each week? How many new, how many repeat?

REPLY: Lancaster General Health’s Suboxone Clinic opened July 8, 2009. Patients are seen by one physician every Wednesday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Three physicians participate in the program. We schedule up to 12 patients per week. In 2009, we held 17 clinics and conducted 83 visits with a no-show rate of 8%. The same volume continues today.

All referrals go through RASE and patients are required to either attend Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous meetings or counseling. About half of the patients are new to the program.