A Cincinnati-based drug treatment group said it plans to open a clinic just south of downtown Dayton in the coming months to treat addicts of heroin and other opiates. They hope to do so despite the fact that Chaminade-Julienne High School, Miami Valley Hospital and others successfully pushed for a change in state law to keep the clinic out.

Ohio House Bill 303, signed into law Dec. 20 by Gov. John Kasich, contains an amendment that prohibits methadone clinics from operating “within a 500-foot radius of a public or private school, licensed day-care center, or other child-serving agency,” unless such agencies sign a waiver, according to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

The Crossroads Center still plans to open a Crosspoint clinic at 732 S. Ludlow St. — within 500 feet of both Chaminade-Julienne and the Daybreak youth shelter — by switching to the drug suboxone, rather than methadone, to treat patients, according to Dr. Roberto Soria, medical director of Crossroads.

“The other program we run, in Cincinnati, had a daycare center on the grounds and we were right next door to a program that treated adolescents, without a problem,” Soria said. “(Opponents of the Dayton clinic) were concerned about the crime rate, but the crime rate actually goes down. They didn’t seem to believe me.”

Bryan Bucklew, president of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association and a leader of opposition to the clinic, said it isn’t reasonable to compare the proposed stand-alone Ludlow Street clinic to Crossroads’ office as part of the University of Cincinnati’s comprehensive medical campus.

“Nobody thought it was a good idea to locate this facility next to a youth shelter and a high school,” Bucklew said.

Daniel Meixner, president of Chaminade-Julienne, issued a statement thanking the neighborhood coalition that worked to get the issue heard at the statehouse.

“We are grateful that our state legislators, most notably Senators Peggy Lehner, Bill Beagle, Shannon Jones and Rep. Mike Henne, drafted and passed (the amendment),” Meixner said.

Bucklew said a wide group of stakeholders, including local hospitals, county officials and addiction groups, examined local drug addiction issues for 18 months, but Crossroads picked a site and made plans to offer treatment without touching base with anyone in Dayton.

“(Soria) didn’t communicate with the local community at all,” Bucklew said. “If he did that, we’d work with him to find an appropriate location.”

Crossroads bought and renovated the Ludlow Street building, and Dayton zoning official David Wombold said the group properly obtained an occupancy certificate to operate a medical office. Had the new Crosspoint clinic received a state license before HB 303 passed, it could be open today. Stacey Frohnapfel Hasson of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services officials said if Crosspoint switches to suboxone treatment, new paperwork would have to be filed.

Soria and Bucklew both agreed that Dayton and the entire state need more opiate addiction treatment centers. Montgomery County’s only public methadone clinic is Project Cure on James H. McGee Boulevard. Soria said that is a clear reason to open the Ludlow Street clinic.

Bucklew said he thinks Crossroads switching to suboxone treatment is not financially feasible, and suggested Soria might be using that plan as leverage to get the city to help him relocate. Bucklew said if Crossroads does pursue using suboxone, his group would lobby state and federal drug officials who must approve that plan.

“This is not just a ‘not in my backyard’ issue,” Bucklew said of the opposition group. “These are people who are working with people who have drug addiction, that are providing social services in the community.”

But Soria said the opposition went too far, adding that Crossroads will consider a legal challenge to HB 303 on the grounds that it dramatically limits where methadone clinics can locate, thereby violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“It’s a bad law,” Soria said. “It singles out this distinct population and denies them access to treatment.”