Something is very wrong at Baldy Hughes Addiction Treatment Centre and Therapeutic Community.
Sources tell The Citizen it has boiled down to a power struggle between board directors in Prince George and Vancouver, and right now the south appears to be winning.
It's alleged the Vancouverites have seen a promised land in the highly successful program and they now want it for themselves through control without any northern component standing in the way.
Memories are short. They forget Prince George was the only community in B.C. to welcome the program and vision by founder MLA Lorne Mayencourt (Vancouver-Burrard) who was based in southern B.C. at the time.
It was a happy day when the program opened it's doors with eight clients on Jan. 14, 2008.
Colin Kinsley, Prince George mayor at the time, brushed off any negativism, saying "It will work here. This will be a shining example for the province," since the city was a champion of the idea.
Mayencourt, in watching his vision become real, said "This is a ground-breaking addictions treatment model based in a therapeutic setting which offers people in recovery the resources to rehabilitate and reintegrate into society.
"Baldy Hughes Therapeutic Community is a project of love that will make a difference in the lives of people we're serving."
The establishment of the program wasn't exactly a hit and miss deal. Indeed, a group of people led by Mayencourt studied programs around the world until they found a long-running addiction treatment centre in San Patrignano, Italy which is Europe's largest .
During 29 years of operation the centre there treated more than 20,000 people, and a university study found that 72 per cent of them remained drug-free after stays of at least two years.
Clients in the European program are streamed into one of dozens work specialties where they contribute to the community's productivity while learning skills.
They manufacture and sell many items to the public, which earns about half of the $35-million annual operating budget.
That is what the Baldy Hughes program is based on, and is working towards the same kind of success rates.
But with the new intrusion from the south, that success may be in jeopardy.
The Citizen has learned the program now seems to be controlled out of Vancouver by a big majority of southern board members.
It's alleged that attempts to replace or add board members from the North is rejected by the south and vacancies are now being filled with southern directors.
It's said most of the southern directors have never even been to Baldy Hughes or Prince George, and are sadly lacking in putting addicted patients or the community first.
The Citizen was also told the clients in the program no longer feel safe or supported and are leaving the site on a daily basis, with at least nine of the 60 clients having pulled out this week.
There has also been an exodus of local board members who feel they can no longer work under the new regime: people like Selen Alpay and Jaret Clay. One northern director, Theo Warkentin, remains, but most locals have been replaced with southern faces.
It's said Dr. Michael O'Malley also resigned from providing medical services at the centre, saying the situation is untenable for him. Since O'Malley is unreachable on vacation in Mexico, it has not been confirmed.
This city, which championed the idea from the beginning, and all northerners need to open their eyes and ears to what's happening.
It's time we all stepped up to the plate before it's too late and the program, like our natural resources, goes south never to return.
