Multnomah County’s drug treatment referral center delayed until mid-October

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) – Multnomah County’s long-debated drug treatment referral center, first projected to open in two weeks, is now expected to open more than a month after Oregon begins to enforce drug criminalization.

The deflection center, dubbed the Coordinated Care Pathway Center, was first slated to open on Sept. 1 as the state begins to arrest people found with small amounts of hard drugs . But in a Monday announcement, Chair Jessica Vega Pederson announced the center is likely to open in mid- to late October.

According to Vega Pederson’s office, the delay is to “allow sufficient time to meet critical staffing levels and training standards for registered nurses and other staff at the Center and give more time for neighborhood and community engagement in the process.”

In the meantime, Multnomah County plans to use mobile outreach to connect drug users with recovery services that would allow them to avoid, or “ deflect ,” jail time. This system will involve specialists working alongside law enforcement to refer those caught with drugs to addiction treatment.

“I’ve stated we will open the Coordinated Care Pathway Center as long as we are ready and can safely provide deflection services,” Chair Vega Pederson said. “After listening to subject-matter experts, neighbors and the community, we are going to take the additional time we need to open in a way that’s safest for the people we are trying to serve, for staff, and for our community.”

The county’s deflection center has endured intense scrutiny in recent months from community members and county leaders alike .

On Aug. 8, an attorney representing the community surrounding the center’s projected location at 900 SE Pine Street threatened to sue Multnomah County if they failed to pause their plans for the center.

“The proposal for the deflection center is to bring in…people who are addicted to fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine from the entire county, bring them to this site [and] offer them a referral,” Perkins Coie Attorney David Watnick said. “Our reasonable expectation is that this is going to invite a flood of drug trafficking, drug use and crime into the neighborhood.”

Just last week, Commissioner Sharon Meieran drafted a resolution to pause the plan for 90 days in an effort to address public safety concerns.

“Critical questions related to public safety external to the facility have not been publicly addressed at all, including what happens if people brought to the facility by police choose not to go inside the facility and what happens to people after they leave,” Meieran’s draft read.

Chair Vega Pederson’s staff and Commissioner Meieran will meet with members of the community to discuss safety measures and respond to neighbor concerns this week. The Board of Commissioners are expected to finalize details for the county’s deflection plan in their next briefing on Aug. 20.

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