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Amarillo addiction treatment provider to end inpatient services after state cuts; asks county to consider opioid-settlement support
Summary
Synacor/Senecore Amarillo told Potter County commissioners it will end inpatient detox and residential services Sept. 30 after an annual funding cut of about $1.14 million from Texas HHSC; the provider asked whether unspent local opioid-settlement funds or regional grants might sustain services while it shifts to outpatient care.
Julie McCarty, regional director for Synacor/Senecore Amarillo, told the Potter County Commissioners Court on Sept. 22 that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission reduced the provider’s funding by roughly $1.14 million a year, forcing Synacor to cease inpatient detox and residential services effective Sept. 30, 2025. "This reduction has forced us to make the incredibly difficult decision to cease operations for our inpatient detox and residential services effective 09/30/2025," McCarty said.
McCarty said Synacor has served more than 7,000 people in the Texas Panhandle over seven years and will continue outpatient offerings including intensive outpatient, medication-assisted treatment and recovery supports. She identified the county’s share of opioid-settlement allocations in exhibit B of the 2020 state settlement, saying the city of Amarillo was allocated $987,661 and $371,701 of that was designated for Potter County.
County staff told the court the reconciled balance for the county’s opioid-settlement fund was $316,907.86 and that, to date, the court had not allocated those dollars. Commissioners and staff discussed regional grant opportunities (Region 12 and other regional channels) and encouraged Synacor to pursue those pools; one commissioner offered to draft a letter of support for Synacor’s regional application.
Judge Tanner and other commissioners asked staff to verify whether additional county-settled opioid funds were available and invited Synacor to return with documentation and a formal request for consideration at a future meeting. No formal appropriation was made at the Sept. 22 session.
The court agreed to ask Synacor to pursue city and regional funding options in parallel and to return with a brief on funding needs and proposed county action.
