PORT ANGELES — The state Department of Health will take public comment on a proposed opioid treatment program proposed by BayMark Health Services at 4 p.m. Monday.
The purpose of the public hearing at the Pirate Union Building on the Port Angeles Peninsula College campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., is for the public to provide comments about the proposed program to assist the Department of Health in making a licensing determination, health department officials said in a press release issued Thursday.
“This is not intended to be an educational event or question-and-answer session,” state officials said.
Members of the public who wish to speak at the hearing will be limited to three minutes each, the release said.
BayMark Health Services is the largest opioid-use disorder medicine-assisted treatment provider in North America since the 2015 merger of Baart Programs and MedMark Treatment Centers.
It plans to open at 716 S. Chase St., the site of the former Buzi Bee Daycare, which closed in 2017.
The state refers to the facility as proposed to be run by Baart Behavioral Health Services, Inc.
Written comments can be submitted at the hearing or received by the Department of Health by email by 5 p.m. Monday, the state said, adding that faxed comments will not be accepted.
Written comments can be sent to Department of Health, Facilities Program, P.O. Box 47852, Olympia, WA 98504-7852 or emailed to Julie.Tomaro@doh.wa.gov.
BayMark Health Services — a for-profit, Texas-based company — plans to provide medication-assisted treatment to people who are addicted to opioids, such as heroin and prescription pain medications.
The vast majority of its patients would be on methadone, said Tom Schwalie, vice president of development in May.
For more information from the state, see its website at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-baarthearing.
