Licensees: Meridian Behavioral Health, LLC and New Horizon Foods, Inc.

Facility: Oakridge Treatment Center

License Nos. 21288, 11525
Request for Appeal: November 28, 2023
Supplemental Submission to Request for Appeal: January 26, 2024

Supplemental Statement to Request for Appeal Regarding Oakridge Treatment Center and
Withdrawal of Appeal

Licensees Meridian Behavioral Health, LLC (“Meridian”) and New Horizon Foods, Inc. (“New
Horizon”) strongly disagree with the allegations contained in Olmsted County’s (the “County”)
November 6, 2023 Public Health Nuisance Determination and November 22, 2023 Notice of
License Revocation (collectively, “the Notices”) related to Oakridge Treatment Center
(“Oakridge”). Despite that disagreement, the purpose of this supplemental submission is to provide
clarification and additional facts to ensure an accurate record and for Meridian and New Horizon
to withdraw their November 28, 2023 Request for Appeal of the County’s Notices.

Olmsted County has experienced a significant increase in the prevalence of substance use
disorder.1 Drug overdose deaths have increased each year since 2017 and emergency room visits
for nonfatal opioid overdoses have increased each year since 2018, both with sharp increases in
2020.2 Treating the County’s residents who are suffering from substance use disorder is no easy
feat and there is rarely a straight path from addiction to recovery. That being said, Meridian
appreciates the challenges experienced by Haverhill Township, Olmsted County, Olmsted
County’s Sheriff’s Department, and Emergency Medical Services (“EMS”) in response to these
residents in moments of distress as they are trying to break the cycle of addiction.

Many of the challenges referenced in the Notices and the Haverhill Township Resolution
Concerning Oakridge Treatment Center LLC (“the Resolution”) reflect a combination of the
realities of the current public health crisis in the community and unrealistic expectations for the
Oakridge facility and staff who were combatting that crisis. The unfortunate reality is that while
everyone would like an easy solution and wants affected individuals to receive treatment for
substance use disorder, few people are accepting of a treatment facility in their neighborhood.

Acknowledging there are areas that Meridian could have managed more effectively at the Oakridge
facility, Meridian strongly disagrees with many of the broad brush conclusions raised in the
Notices and Resolution related to Oakridge.

Olmsted County and Haverhill Township’s Actions Have Reduced Access to Vital
Treatment for Vulnerable Residents During a Period of Public Health Crisis

The epidemic of drug use, including the use of opiates, has expanded significantly throughout
Minnesota, the Midwest region, and Olmsted County specifically, as evidenced by the Notices’
identification of increased occurrence of EMS, Sheriff, and community calls related to substance
use. A significant number of the patients treated by the Oakridge facility are Olmsted County

1
Olmsted County Substance Use and Overdose Profile, MINN. DEPT. OF HEALTH (last accessed January 22,
2024), https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/opioids/countyprofiles/olmsted.html.
2
Id.
residents. Reducing access to treatment by revoking Oakridge’s licenses and forcing it to cease
operations unquestionably reduces access to care for Olmsted County residents. With a reduction
in the number of treatment beds available in Olmsted County, these individuals will be forced to
relocate further from their homes, loved ones, and support networks during the most vulnerable
period of their recovery.

In 2023 alone, 200 Olmsted County residents received care at Oakridge. Approximately 85% of
those residents receiving treatment were uninsured or covered by a Prepaid Medical Assistance
Program. These patients will have even fewer options for care in Minnesota without access to the
Oakridge program. State statistics show that Olmsted County saw a 75% increase in overdose
deaths between 2019 and 2021.3 This number continues to increase. Prior to the closing of
Oakridge, Olmsted County had 238 licensed beds for substance use treatment. Preventing
Oakridge from operating reduces access by 29% overall in Olmsted County and by 46% for male
patients. The evidence demonstrates that access to treatment reduces overdose deaths and increases
the likelihood that overdoses do not result in death. Olmsted County has lost a vital tool to prevent
overdose deaths by forcing the closure of Oakridge.

Olmsted County and Haverhill Township Are Holding Oakridge to an Unreasonable

Standard Not Applied to Other Nearby Facilities

Olmsted County and Haverhill Township are holding Oakridge to a higher community standard
than another local facility that is presenting significant operational challenges identified by the
Minnesota Department of Human Services (“DHS”). There are only a handful of treatment
facilities in Olmsted County. One of the only other substance use treatment providers in Olmsted
County, Pathway House, is currently under a two-year conditional order by DHS, citing failures
to ensure staff are qualified to have direct contact with patients, among other serious issues.

The Notices related to Oakridge claimed that more EMS and law enforcement calls for service
went to Oakridge than to other treatment facilities in the community, but the available public data
documenting calls for service demonstrates that is not factually accurate. In fact, the other
treatment provider, Pathway House, experienced a greater number of calls for service. This
indicates that the statistics on Oakridge’s calls for service or incidents related to patients cited in
the Notices and Resolution are not atypical, as the County and Township have sought to convey.
These statistics were utilized by the County and Township as part of the basis for requiring
Oakridge to close its doors, while other treatment facilities facing similar issues and even higher
numbers of calls for service were allowed to remain operational. If DHS were to close Pathway
House, Olmsted County would face a dire situation with an even greater reduction in access to
care for substance use treatment due to the County revoking Oakridge’s license.

Removing Access to Oakridge’s Treatment Program Ignores the Realities of Treating

Substance Use Disorder

Substance use disorder treatment such as that provided by Oakridge helps people begin a path to
recovery, but that path is rarely simple or linear. Important realities for treatment programs include

3
Id.

2
the following:

 Admission and care for substance use is most often voluntary. Therefore, while
treatment programs work to keep people motivated for their care and in treatment,
staff are not able to keep patients against their will. Treatment is not jail – it is
healthcare.

 Patients may be suffering from poor judgment while in treatment, as it is an

incredibly challenging time for them both physically and mentally. This lack of
sound judgment is not a legal justification for removing personal freedoms from
adults. While staff would always advocate and try to persuade residents leaving
treatment to do so with safe transportation and adequate clothing, treatment
providers cannot physically restrain patients who are not an acute danger to
themselves or others as defined by State law. The number of Olmsted County
residents with acute substance use disorders is significant and growing. It is not
unexpected or unlikely that community members are going to interact with them,
especially when residing near the Oakridge facility.

 As seen below, Olmsted County is in the top ten Minnesota counties that
experienced a higher rate of overdoses in 2023. Olmsted County and Haverhill
Township would be wise to increase access to care for its citizens rather than
shutter programs such as Oakridge.

 Federal law ensures confidentiality for patients in substance use treatment (see 42
C.F.R. ch. 1, pt 2). Federal law can, at times, interfere with a treatment facility’s
ability to allow law enforcement entry into the program and facility, and can limit
communication between the staff of the facility and the local township or county
officials.

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  Overdoses can occur anywhere, even in a treatment facility. As the Olmsted County
Sheriff is well aware, patients can die in jail from a drug overdose. 4 Preventing
overdoses is a challenge that all treatment facilities face as they work to address
substance use disorders in our communities. Treatment programs like Oakridge
cannot eliminate overdoses, but unlike people who overdose on the street or in jail,
rapid intervention with antidotes and supportive medical care is readily available in
a treatment program and thereby reduces fatalities. Managing the care of vulnerable
adults cannot, and should not, strip patients of their rights – proper care involves
rapid and effective interventions to reduce fatalities and increase the potential for
recovery while respecting a patient’s dignity.

 The Notices and Resolution contain numerous references to community complaints

about patients at Oakridge. It is understandable that people are uncomfortable
witnessing the impact of substance use disorders on patients. At the same time,
Olmsted County and Haverhill Township leaders have an obligation to help educate
residents about the rapidly growing public health crisis arising out of substance use
disorder in their community. Nothing is to be gained from trying to ignore the crisis
and making residents believe that it is not happening their community. Oakridge
treats the fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters of many Olmsted County residents.
The community faces challenges related to substance use disorders because of the
ever-growing public health crisis – not because Oakridge is a member of the
community. Removing Oakridge does not remove the public health crisis born out
of addiction. Access to care for substance use disorders, such as that provided by
Oakridge, is the only methodology for combating the crisis.

It is Meridian’s belief that leaders of Olmsted County and Haverhill Township are failing to
acknowledge and recognize the root of the issues identified in the Notices and Resolution. Olmsted
County and Haverhill Township must take into consideration the challenges faced by all treatment
facilities and the great need for substance use treatment access in the community. This public
health crisis exists and is growing in Olmsted County. Access to treatment is the only tool to
combat substance use disorders, and with that access comes inevitable challenges. Restricting
access at this pivotal moment will not help some of the most vulnerable Olmsted County residents
manage their disease, prevent overdoses, or correct poor decision-making. It will only create a
further barrier to health, survival, and wellness for Olmsted County residents.

With that, Meridian and New Horizon respectfully withdraw their appeal of the County’s Notices
at this time.

4
“Man dies at Olmsted County Jail; second death in 2023,” FOX 9 KMSP, (last accessed January 22,
2024), https://www.fox9.com/news/man-dies-at-olmsted-county-jail-second-death-in-2023.

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 MASLON LLP

Dated: January 26, 2024 By:

David E. Suchar (#392583)
225 South Sixth Street, Suite 2900
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Telephone: (612) 672.8200
david.suchar@maslon.com

On Behalf of Ascension Recovery Services,

Meridian Behavioral Health LLC, Oakridge
Treatment Center, and New Horizon Foods, Inc.