SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Sullivan County Public Health Commissioner John Liddle has announced that inpatient drug treatment services are returning to the county after years of advocacy. 

The services will be provided at Garnet Health Medical Center-Catskills, occupying the space taken up by the former skilled nursing unit, according to a presentation Liddle gave the Sullivan County Legislature on October 16. Services will be provided by the Lexington Center for Recovery.

“The goal is to open by early next year, ideally by January,” he said. “That will bring 47 residential beds and six detox beds back to the county—a real game changer in this effort.”

District 5 Legislator Cat Scott reflected on how things have changed since before the opioid epidemic. “Thirty years ago, when I started working with people struggling with addiction, treatment options were more available—before the crisis took hold,” she said.

She added that the new facility will allow for longer stays. “It’s a six- to nine-month program that can extend up to a year—it’s not just 28 days,” Scott said.

District 1 Legislator Matt Phillips agreed. “Length of stay is the big difference,” he said. “Just to have an option here again is huge. How long have we been talking about this?”

The impact of the crisis

There was earnest discussion about opioid recovery efforts during the Sullivan County Health and Human Services Committee meeting on October 16.

Dorothy Sanchez, a resident of Sullivan County, gave an emotional presentation to the board in honor of her late son, Jonathan Sanchez, who died from opioid addiction. She urged county officials and the public to support her petition for reform in opioid recovery systems.

“My son died within the system that was supposed to save him,” Sanchez said. “If it was your child, you would say they need to be rescued. Join your voice with mine. Sign the petition and sign the letter.”

She then asked the room, “If you know someone who knows someone in addiction—or who died from addiction—can you raise your hand?” Several hands went up.

District 9 Legislator Terry Blosser-Bernardo recalled a successful recovery program that once existed in Kerhonkson, started by two former addicts. “When I would meet people in Villa Veritas, they were getting the help they needed,” she said. “We need a Villa Veritas here.”

Sanchez urged officials not to focus solely on the reduction in overdose statistics. “Don’t look at how many didn’t die this month—look at how people can live,” she said, adding that EMS, ER staff and police see firsthand how the cycle of neglect repeats.

“Addicts become customers,” she continued. “Medication-assisted treatment is big business—methadone alone is a $700 million market.”

She stressed that recovery takes time and can’t be achieved in a few days of outpatient care. “Dead people can’t choose,” she said, referring to the civil liberties protections in New York State that make it hard to admit people involuntarily.

Liddle responded that it’s a delicate balance between respecting choice and knowing when intervention is necessary. “At what point do we say this person needs help?” he said. “There’s a wide range of dysfunction that’s self-injurious, and the challenge is sustaining people in treatment long enough to reach real outcomes.”

Other resources

The board also discussed scheduling an end-of-year presentation from Hope Not Handcuffs, a tri-county community partnership connecting law enforcement, community organizations, and volunteers to help people seeking treatment for substance use.

“I’m a Hope Not Handcuffs Angel,” Liddle said. “I’ve been in Liberty PD on a Saturday morning trying to find treatment for someone in Ulster County or the Bronx—it’s tremendously frustrating not to have somewhere local to send them.”

The Department of Community Services and the county clinic are currently working to fill staff vacancies to continue providing critical support. Local crisis response teams have also expanded their mental health training, while a quick response team—pairing law enforcement with a peer from Hope Not Handcuffs—will soon operate countywide.

The team visits people within days of a non-fatal overdose, offering treatment options and ongoing support until they’re ready to accept help. “Sometimes it takes 50 visits before someone says yes,” said Deputy Health & Human Services Commissioner Melissa Stickle “But we don’t give up.”