Access Community and Team Wellness tell appropriations panel intake paperwork, workforce rules block timely SUD treatment

Mona Mackey, director of Access Community Health and Research Center, and Jessica Kowalski, deputy director of medical services at Access, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Human Services that state intake, authorization and credentialing processes are causing many people seeking substance use disorder care to drop out before treatment begins.

At the hearing, Mackey — representing the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) — described the current client pathway: an intake call to the PIHP (Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, DWIN) that can take at least an hour and a half, then agency appointments for paperwork and subsequent ASAM (American Society for Addiction Medicine) assessments. Mackey said the journey to a meaningful treatment encounter can require as many as five separate appointments…