Since 2016, the Nashua Safe Station program has been a tool used to combat the opioid crisis, and now its future is unknown.

NASHUA – The opioid crisis is not going away anytime soon, but the future of Nashua’s Safe Station program is very dim according to Nashua’s fire chief.

The future of this collaborative community response to the opioid crisis is unknown, and the topic came up during Wednesday’s Special Board of Aldermen meeting. The program has been operating out of city fire stations since its inception in November 2016.

The program calls upon community stakeholders to take in those seeking help with their addictions.

After the program came up during the meeting, Alderman Tom Lopez asked if the firefighters’ contract is committing the department to continue with the program for the duration of the agreement.

John McAllister, president of the Nashua Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 789 responded by saying there are no such provisions in the contract. Lopez asked if there are any plans to continue.

“I don’t know what the plan is for the city right now,” McAllister said.

When the program began the working conditions for the members of Local 789 changed, and McAllister explained that they did not bat an eye and took on the challenge.

He praised his union members performance, citing lives that have been saved.

The members have not been compensated for that effort or received any type of benefit.

Former Nashua mayor Don Davidson said they took on this responsibility, and that there is some question about what they plan going forward.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do as a city, except that the state has come down and changed the whole process,” Davidson said. “They have created an agency in the city from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and any Safe Station type of need is supposed to be handled by that facility, but the question pops up, what happens after 5 p.m. and until 8 in the morning? And what is happening is they’re going to the fire station.”

The state created The Doorway program ,with nine outlets across New Hampshire, as a response to the opioid crisis, with one serving Greater Nashua. The fire department partners with Harbor Homes

Noting its partnership with Harbor Homes American Medical Response and other partners, Lopez asked what the plan is for the Safe Station program.

“I think things are changing as far as Harbor Homes’ involvement and I think Harbor Homes was the linchpin to the successes we had, but first and foremost, we all have to understand that we are an emergency services organization,” Nashua fire chief Brian Rhodes said. “We are not a social services organization.”

Harbor Homes President and CEO Peter Kelleher stated in an email Thursday that the program has seen more than 3,500 walk-ins from individuals seeking help. He said people coming through the program have been able to access vital treatment and support through the network of services and that the program is an innovative collaboration to a very challenging issue.

“The community is moving in a new direction in how it plans to triage individuals who are misusing substances,” Kelleher said. “We look forward to supporting the new Doorway/Hub provider – which began operations in early May – and working and partnering with them to the best of our ability to continue to meet the needs of the community. Our organizations’ services remain – we will continue to provide residential and outpatient substance use disorder treatment, Medication Assisted Treatment, specialized methamphetamine treatment services, and more to all those in need.”

Furthermore, Rhodes explained that taxpayers fund the department and expect them to respond in a timely and efficient manner to their emergency. As it is, many Safe Station clients are from out of the city of Nashua. Rhodes further explained that one of the things that the department made clear from day one was the need to have Nashua fire companies available in 15 minutes or less.

“Unfortunately for the city of Nashua, the governor decided he had a better plan and the governor never came to us and asked us about our program, and basically said this is the program,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes said the future of Safe Station is very dim.

“I think that light is dimming by the day and it’s not by anything that we can do because that is not something that the city of Nashua could have to bear the burden because the state of New Hampshire is receiving an incredible amount of money to deal with this, but unfortunately, they never consulted us to see why our model was so successful,” Rhodes said.

He explained that the department cannot have a fire company out of service for half an hour to an hour trying to make phone calls.

“I’ve probably been the biggest champion of the Nashua Safe Station from the fire department for the last four years and it pains me to tell you this, but those are the hard, cold facts of this and I just don’t think that this should be put on the backs of our Nashua firefighters or the taxpayers of the city of Nashua going forward,” Rhodes said.

When asked about the Safe Station program’s fate, Rhodes on Thursday said nothing is finalized yet but that internal discussions are ongoing.

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Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

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