Letter to Patrick Fry, President and CEO of Sutter Health - Expression of Concerns Over the Impact of Thunder Road Closure on Bay Area Youth

Letter

Dear Mr. Fry:

On behalf of our constituencies, we write to express our concern over the recent reduction in services offered by the Thunder Road program. As representatives of the communities who depend on this facility, we fear that such diminished services could jeopardize the great strides that the Thunder Road program has made possible.

Our deep concern arises from the fact that Thunder Road is an essential resource for low-income and indigent youth dealing with addiction and co-occurring behavioral disorders. Over the 28 years since the program opened, it has served thousands of youth and families from the greater Bay Area and Northern California. With its unique licensure as both a chemical dependency recovery hospital and a group home, along with accreditation by the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, Thunder Road offers the highest available level of care, and serves as the last chance for its patients. This is especially true for drug-addicted youth in our child welfare and juvenile justice systems -- and, as important, for youth who are at imminent risk of falling into those systems. If Thunder Road closes, hundreds of vulnerable adolescents and their families across Northern California will lose access to its vital services. This closure would be a devastating loss to the many communities served by Thunder Road.

We understand that Sutter Health is in the process of transitioning ownership of the Thunder Road program in order to ensure its long-term viability. We respectfully request an update on the current level of operations at the Thunder Road program, as well as the current outlook for the program's future.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Barbara Lee
Member of Congress

Mike Thompson
Member of Congress

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