QuickTake:

Officials estimate the county could expand and serve more than 100 people in the Florence area who need outpatient treatment for opioid addiction. Currently, the closest medication-assisted treatment center is in Eugene.

Every week, about 30 people make the trek from Florence to Eugene to get treatment for opioid addiction in a Lane County clinic.

The 75-minute drive can be formidable for the clients, who may lack a vehicle or face difficulty arranging transportation between both communities to get doses of the medications. 

Lane County officials are making plans to erase that barrier and make it easier for people in the Florence area to access life-saving treatment for opioid addiction. 

The work represents another step in the county’s efforts to combat drug addiction, which has risen in Oregon and the region as fentanyl use skyrocketed on the West Coast in recent years. For public health officials, a major part of that work is increasing people’s access to treatment and services as much as possible. 

“The county is always looking for ways to extend applicable services into rural areas,” said Jason Davis, a spokesperson for Lane County Health and Human Services. “If there is a need in a rural area, then we try and figure out a way to meet that need.”

In June, the county commissioners agreed to begin the process of conducting due diligence necessary to purchase a former medical facility in Florence. The purchase is not yet yet finalized, but county officials estimate the price will be $1.76 million. The primary funding source for the project is opioid settlement money, which the county receives from national class-action lawsuits against painkiller manufacturers and distributors. 

Now closed, the building was once the site of BestMed Primary Care, 4480 Highway 101, G, Florence. 

After the facility is renovated for group rooms and opened — likely in the late spring of 2026 with about a dozen staffers —the site will be an extension of the work that unfolds in Eugene.

In recent months, the county has been conducting outreach in the community. County officials will have an outreach meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Wildflower Montessori School, 4465 Highway 101, Florence. 

The meeting is primarily for families of children who attend the school, given its proximity to the clinic. Other members of the public are welcome to come with questions, too. 

Current efforts to expand

At the Lane County Treatment Center, patients show up to get medication to treat opioid addiction. Patients can get methadone, a highly regulated prescribed drug that reduces the cravings people in addiction have for opioids. Another medication is buprenorphine. 

More than 400 patients are currently enrolled for treatment, coming from all corners of Lane County — and all walks of life. 

Patients also have access to other services, including counseling and caseworkers who help them access other services like Medicaid, housing and employment assistance. In a large room with skylights, sunlight streams down into an area where people can do activities and visit in support groups.

Some are homeless; others have good jobs leading organizations. It’s a microcosm of how opioid addiction reaches people throughout a community, from the impoverished to the affluent, from urban to rural. 


Recovery is not a quick process for all. Some finish within weeks. Others spend months or longer as they navigate through their addiction. But the likelihood of success increases with fewer obstacles for people juggling work and families with a recovery. 

“It’s a huge hindrance to drive from Florence to here and back every day or even a couple times a week,” said Carla Ayres, the center’s clinical supervisor. “A lot of gas, a lot of time. So we want to be able to remove that barrier.”

County officials expect to serve more than the 30 patients from the Florence area who get treated in Eugene. They estimate that about 100 people could receive treatment by the end of the first year of operation.

The coast lacks opioid addiction treatment options between Coos Bay and Seaside, county officials said Officials anticipate a wider group of people would seek help if it’s in Florence.

“There’s always a lot of (opioid) use that’s going on behind the scenes,” said Dr. James Kassube, the Eugene clinic’s medical director. “And a lot of those people would like to have access, but they have no way to get here. They don’t have the ability to get north or south.”

Long-running problem 

In recent years, opioid addiction skyrocketed in Oregon as fentanyl became more prevalent in the state. Often, opioid addiction can start with legally prescribed painkillers and progress to other opioids like fentanyl and heroin. Drug dealers often mix fentanyl, which is highly addictive, with other illicit street drugs. 

In Lane County, 164 people died of opioid overdoses in 2023, state data show. That’s nearly 12% of Oregon’s 1,394 fatal opioid overdoses. 

In comparison, 318 people died of opioid overdoses in 2019 statewide, and 29 people of them were in Lane County. 

Preliminary data for 2024 show that fatal opioid overdoses have started to decrease in Oregon, but still remain well above pre-pandemic levels: nearly 1,100. That figure could change. 

Hundreds of others enter Lane County hospital emergency rooms every year to be treated for opioid overdoses. There were about 1,000 emergency room visits to Lane County hospitals for opioid overdoses in 2023, state data show. 

In recent years, Oregon policymakers have worked to try to combat the rise of fentanyl in communities. In 2024, state lawmakers passed a bill that allowed counties to set up deflection programs that steer people who face misdemeanor drug possession charges away from the court system and into programs that provide treatment and other services. 

Officials said the Eugene treatment clinic has economic and health benefits for the people they serve. Kassube said he’s seen people go from the throes of drug addiction to getting clean, restoring relationships with their kids and working jobs. 

“It’s so rewarding,” he said. “So if we can do that for 100 people over on the coast, that would be amazing.”

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.