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West Virginia Delegate John Kelly, R-Wood, left, speaks with St. Joseph Recovery Center Program Director Jordan Granus, center, and CEO Donna Meadows about the long-term, medication-assisted substance abuse treatment program in a patient room during a May 2019 open house at the facility. (File Photo)
PARKERSBURG — State Delegate John Kelly plans to introduce legislation requiring the approval of the West Virginia Health Care Authority before a drug or alcohol abuse treatment center can open or expand.
“We need to stop this influx,” said Kelly, R-Wood.
There are 283 state-licensed treatment beds in Wood County, 203 of them within the city limits of Parkersburg, according to statistics from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and local facilities. That’s up from 30 in the space of five years.