LOWELL — On May 9, the Habit OPCO methadone clinic on Olde Colony Drive stopped accepting new patients.

Medication-assisted treatments, like methadone and Suboxone, are some of the most successful methods available to people addicted to opioids, and expanding access to clinics like Habit OPCO is high on the state’s list of responses to the opioid epidemic.

The problem, however, is finding enough qualified addiction counselors to keep up with the growing stream of patients.

“The only reason why we closed admissions here in Lowell is because there is a shortage of staff,” said Ron Rosa, the clinic’s director, adding that It was a “heartbreaking” decision.

Methadone patients receive regular counseling, and Habit OPCO’s ideal ratio of patients to counselors is about 75 to one. Counselors at the Lowell clinic currently see between 85 and 95 patients, Rosa said, and increasing that load would risk reducing the quality of care patients receive.

Prospective patients who call Habit OPCO in Lowell are now referred to the company’s Lawrence clinic, or Spectrum Health’s Haverhill methadone center.

“We’re not denying access to treatment. We’re doing everything we can to get that call to another facility,” Rosa said. “Since we stopped this on Monday (May 9), my sister clinic in Lawrence is getting a surge in calls. It’s almost like a cycle,”

Programs across the commonwealth and the country are struggling to find enough qualified counselors to meet the demand.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimated there were around 556,000 people who had either abused or were dependent on alcohol or drugs in Massachusetts in 2014. That same year, there were 1,388 people certified as Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (LADCs),

LADCs, which require a bachelor’s degree, are the most common form of certification for addiction counselors in Massachusetts.

“I think it has gotten worse over the past few years, but we’ve had trouble for some time — I would say the last five to 10 years,” said Linda Mullins, treasurer for the Massachusetts Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors.

“Some (treatment programs) are ending up hiring people that aren’t really qualified,” added Mullins, who also trains addiction counselors at several institutions, including Westfield State University. “A lot of our students — a good 60 percent of our students — are hired before they can finish the program. So that’s a sign that they are desperate for people with any kind of qualification.”

The Megan House, a residential treatment program for women in Lowell, takes aspiring counselors who are green and trains them, often as they complete other requirements for LDAC certification, said MaryBeth Murphy, the program director.

While those interns are limited in the kinds of work they are allowed to do, many people who go into addiction counseling bring with them important insight from their own personal or family experiences with substance abuse.

“A lot of the counselors that we use came from our programs or other programs and have been clean and sober and gone through some training, but are not necessarily certified,” said Bill Garr, CEO of Lowell House Inc.

Mullins estimated that around half of all addiction counselors are either in recovery themselves or were close with a person who struggled with addiction.

The shortage of staff at programs like Habit OPCO seems to be driven more by an increase in patients — a silver lining, because it means more people are seeking treatment — than any decrease in counselors entering the field.

At the same time, there is a high rate of turnover for substance-abuse counselors around the country. They earn an average of $42,000 a year in Massachusetts and many have student loans.

Because of how insurance companies compensate treatment programs, counselors are often paid based on how many patients they see and do not receive benefits like health insurance through their jobs.

Competition is tight for people willing to shoulder the financial and emotional burdens of such a taxing job. Habit OPCO has begun posting ads for qualified counselors on Craigslist, in addition to its usual recruiting methods.

“A lot of the clinicians who are graduating, they don’t want to go into the substance-abuse field,” Rosa said. “It takes a special person to really work in this field.”

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