Multnomah County delays opening of drug treatment referral center

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.

KOIN 6 News is a news partner of the Portland Tribune. Their full story can be found at koin.com .