New project in Westmoreland County aims to use penalty money to fight opioid addiction

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — Westmoreland County Commissioners will vote to send more than half-a-million dollars to the Gateway Rehab facility at Excela Health Frick Hospital in Mount Pleasant on Thursday. It’s just part of the nearly $48 million the county is receiving from an opioid lawsuit through the end of 2039.

Investing money to help fight opioid addiction is something Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas said is a priority for the county commission.

“The problem of opioid addiction persists and we’re in dire need of resources,” Kopas said.

That’s why the county commission will vote to send 577,000 to Gateway Rehab, a private rehab facility in Mount Pleasant, to help with expanding their program.

“It’s incumbent on us to make smart, strategic investments to make sure we’re tackling a really difficult and persistent problem,” Kopas added.

The facility at Frick Hospital has 30 beds. James Troup, the CEO of Gateway Rehab, said this money will go toward adding 15 more beds.

It’s a big step in helping more people in Westmoreland County get the care they need close to home instead of having to go to a facility in another county.

“It becomes troublesome for the families to come to Beaver County when they live in Westmoreland,” Troup told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek. “We know this is a family disease, so we want to make sure the families are involved in the programming to make sure when that patient goes back into the community, they have the support, and the family understands more of what that person’s going through.”

Gateway will lease vacant space at the hospital to help with that expansion, which goes beyond just adding beds.

Gateway is also looking to add a scanning system that will scan a patient to make sure they’re not bringing drugs in with them.

“So, we’re really trying to prevent any kind of substance getting into our facilities to protect the community, and help those people through the recovery process,” Troup said.

So far, the county received $2.5 million from the nationwide class action lawsuit settlement last year, and another $1.5 million just in October. Commissioners say they’ll continue to use those funds to help internal programs run by the court, the county Human Services Department, and the Department of Community Relations and Prevention.

“These are really necessary resources for us to continue fighting a really difficult battle,” Kopas said.

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