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For users trying to overcome substance abuse, the gap between detox and treatment services can often be too wide to bridge on their own. A newly renovated facility on Beacon Hill will try to make things easier.
When fully operational, Recovery Place Seattle at Beacon Hill will offer a place where homeless or low-income patients can detox from heroin and other drugs, then transition to residential treatment services in the same building, where they can get medication that helps them kick their addiction. Unlike existing residential treatment facilities, Recovery Place will also provide mental health services.
“We’re up for the challenge, buddy,” Ken Taylor, CEO of Valley Cities Behavior Health Care (the local nonprofit that will operate the facility), said of treating patients with substance use disorders and mental health diagnoses. “Bring it on.”
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Recovery Place Seattle will open later in October with 16 beds for “acute withdrawal management.” When fully operational, that number will grow to 33 detox beds as well as 40 in an “intensive inpatient unit” staffed by over 100 full-time employees.
Michael Mohn — a former Valley Cities client who was a veteran of 25 detox visits and four stays in treatment — said he believes Recovery Place will help patients from slipping through the cracks.
“Right here, you guys have a one-stop shop,” Mohn said at a media tour Thursday. “You guys have a detox. You guys have a treatment center. So you guys are definitely addressing needs. (Patients) can stay right here and get all the services you guys provide.”
Valley Cities Chief Strategy Officer Milena Stott said typical detox stays will last around five days, while the inpatient program will run from two to four weeks.
King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that people staying at Seattle’s Navigation Center will be given priority when assigning beds at the new facility.
“This will be the first detox facility in King County to offer treatment for addiction and mental health challenges, making it possible for staff to better address the underlying cause of behavioral issues,” Constantine said. “Our partnership will also help us confront homelessness in the region.”
The building at 1701 18th Ave. used to house a Recovery Centers of King County detox facility before it was shut down in 2015.
Purchase and renovation cost $12.47 million, which included $1 million from King County, $3 million from the state’s housing commission and $1 million from the Norcliffe Foundation. Another $1 million in proposed funding will come from the state’s energy efficiency incentive program, with Valley Cities footing the rest of the bill with the help of a $4.5 million loan from Bank of America.
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The facility will have an annual operating budget around $5 million when fully staffed, some of which will come through a program where the county pays Valley Cities for treating Medicaid patients.
Patients will initially be referred from area hospital emergency rooms, but Valley City officials hope Recovery Place will become a diversion for police and first responders whose current options include taking patients to jail or emergency rooms.
Valley Cities has plans for a 32-bed Recovery Place location at 505 Washington Ave. S. in Kent next year.
Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.
Article source: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Recovery-Place-Beacon-Hill-addiction-mental-health-12293765.php