Ok... First of all, nobody HAS to go to this place. They aren't a resturant or a club, they're a methadone clinic. And 90% of the people that go there have the government pay their way. So my personal opinion is that if it's bad, go somewhere else. There are plenty of pay clinics. This clinic has over 100 patients (99% of whom are- or were- drug addicts- probably fun ppl to deal with all day..) with one nurse and 2 counselors. 80-90 of whom come every single day. So I don't think Mary is lazy... The computer is not her fault. Does it mess up sometimes and go slow? ya.. but it's usually fixed in less than 2min. It's not like the manual pump is something she can just pull out and use whenever she wants- it's a narcotic! she has to account for every single drop and have another person double check every dose- tons of paperwork.. The place does not have ants or smell like dog poop..lol. Thats funny though, and the clinic (just like every other clinic) is open from 6-9:30am, so ya, if you have to be at work at 7, get there at 6... This clinic is no different than other clinics. There are state laws that regulate how to increase dosing. Unless you transfer from another methadone clinic they can't start you out on more than 20 or 30mg, and increase you by 5. And yes, of course the doctor has to be the one to increase your dose. Without a tolerance, it's not hard to overdose on Methadone, better to underestimate than kill someone! Getting to a stable does isn't the most fun part for anybody, but it's an evil necessity and when it's done it's done... Methadone was meant for people who were strung out on heroin and at their wit's end. Idk why people on prescription pain pills get on methadone- it's not worth it. It's much easier to go to a detox clinic for 3 days to get off of pills than get off of methadone. Methadone is for maintenance- not detox! It's a very serious and very addictive drug. But I had been an IV heroin user for 5 yrs. Eventually I was in the hospital for 3wks being told I might have my arm amputated- plus of course I had ruined my life- jail, hospitals- the whole bit. When I got on methadone I got my life back. Now, 2 yrs later, I've been on the Dean's list the last 3 semesters, I'm 1 semester away from my Associate's degree, am going for my Bachelor's and possibly law school. So, for people like me, dealing with a slow computer is a small price to pay for that. Mary is very sweet, I don't envy her, she has a very hard job...Dealing with very difficult people. And ya maybe Cathy can rub people the wrong way, but I just try to stay out of her way and be as nice to her as possible when I do see her. After you know how she is (and learn that it's not just you) she's not bad. Besides, after the intake you don't deal with her, Mary is who you deal with everyday, and she's great. Star and Susie (the current counselors) are very caring and sweet too, so is Dr.Michaels and the clinic mananger. So the staff is not at all lazy. If I were to complain about someone it would be the other patients..lol.. They can be pretty bad, but the people you see everyday try very hard to make the patient's life better. They probably aren't there for the glory or the big bucks :)
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