BECKLEY, W.Va. — Two local chronic pain management clinics are among the first clinics in the state to be closed, under a strict new law that placed pain clinic licensure under the oversight of West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, officials said Monday.
That was the word from Jolynn Marra, director of WVDHHR’s Office of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification (OHFLAC).
“They were outside of substantial requirements for compliance,” said Marra. “They did not meet those minimum requirements so they were ordered to close and cease operation.”
Marra said that, in accordance with state law, administrators of both pain clinics should have contacted patients to notify them of the closure and to recommend alternative providers.
OHFLAC also revoked the license of the Charleston branch of the Hope Clinic, another chronic pain management clinic, earlier this year, said OHFLAC spokesperson Allison Adler.
In 2012, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed into law SB 437, a bill that addresses addiction, including chronic pain management clinic operations, and placed the clinics under WVDHHR oversight.
A goal of the law is to reduce the rate of substance abuse in West Virginia…
