After nearly two years, the San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic and Needle Exchange will move out of the Fresno County Health Department Building and back onto the streets.
The clinic is open each Saturday morning to provide clean needles to help stop the spread of diseases.
There are also medical providers on site to treat drug users' wounds.
The Health Department and leaders of the clinic said that care significantly decreases strain on local hospitals and emergency rooms, has saved the county $6.3 million since last year and that the location allows them to easily direct people to other resources.
"We went before from before just treating a patient over and over again for infections and saying to them, 'Doesn't it seem like you should be in treatment?'" said Dr. Marc Lasher, President of San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic & Needle Exchange. "Now, we provide this service very much up front."
The clinic and resources are funded with money the state received from settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors.
However, the county does cover utilities and some staff, such as security, that cost the county roughly $90,000 last year.
Supervisor Garry Bredefeld voted in favor of ending the pilot program.
He had fought against moving the clinic to the health department back in September 2023, when he was on the city council.
"This whole needle exchange program is completely destructive," said Bredefeld. "It shouldn't be in our community. Unfortunately, the state allows it, but the county had no business being involved. I know there are people that think this is a good program to hand out crack pipes and needles to drug addicts -- it's completely stupid."
The CDC said decades of research show these programs are safe, effective, cost-saving and do not increase illegal drug use or crime.
Supervisor Luis Chavez voted in favor of keeping the clinic.
"You can't force somebody into a rehabilitation program or anything of that sort, but this, I think, opened the door for folks to come in and have that conversation," said Chavez. "Now that we don't have it, I'm really concerned about those folks that would come in because I think their success rate was increasing as the program was getting known more."
Because state law requires the county to allow Syringe Service Programs to operate, Chavez said, now the clinic can pop up anywhere in the county.
Ultimately, the board voted 3 to 2 to end the pilot program, meaning the clinic will have to relocate from the health department within the next 30 days.
For news updates, follow Kate Nemarich on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.