BATON ROUGE- Board members and employees at the Baton Rouge Detox Center blame incompetence by their executive director for the problems they are facing now that could lead to the facility's closure.

The facility does not have accreditation mandated by the state to receive Medicaid money. About 90 percent of the facility's clientele is made up of Medicaid patients.

Board Member Oliver Lampin said the facility will not have enough money to make payroll in two weeks. It comes after their money stream was cut off by the state last week due to the lack of accreditation.

When asked who dropped the ball, Lampin responded, "The executive director."

That woman was identified as Amber Landry. When reached by phone Tuesday she said, "No comment."

Landry is still employed but is on leave.

Recovering addict April Lyons checked into the facility two and a half weeks ago. She doesn't know what she'll do if it closes.

"I struggle with addiction to opiates, crack cocaine and meth," Lyons said.

She's been getting help from workers there and said she's learned to love herself again.

"What we've learned here, we can live again," Lyons said.

As concern grows, those in charge are worried about what the future holds and are pleading with the state to grant them an exception until they can get reaccredited.

"We might stay in business another two weeks," Lampin said. "We are making payroll tomorrow. Two weeks from now it's uncertain whether we will be able to make another full payroll."

The concern about not being able to help the community's most vulnerable reduced the clinical director to tears.

"There are people dying," Tom Buchmann said. "We provide a good quality service. It upsets me, and I'm sorry."