Rehab is part of the continuum of care in Northumberland County

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(Coal Township) — The development of a drug rehabilitation facility is at the heart of Northumberland County’s attempt to establish a continuum of care amidst the heroin and prescription opioid addiction epidemic.

As the county retrofits a former juvenile detention center for a new jail, a second former detention center building is under renovation a half-mile away for a multi-service treatment facility. Gaudenzia Inc. will offer outpatient and intensive outpatient services along with a seven-bed detox center and 16-bed inpatient rehab facility.

Northumberland County had 30 fatal overdoses in 2017. The closest detox and inpatient facility to the county’s coal region is about a 45 minute drive.

Eight counties will be served by the Gaudenzia-operated facility which combined with the severity of addiction-related issues in the Northumberland County, has officials in Sunbury believing the bed capacity will quickly expand.

“We’re trying to develop a continuum of care. The system is splintered and as a result, people are not getting the opportunity when they need treatment and when they’re motivated for treatment,” said Maryrose McCarthy, Northumberland County chief clerk.

That continuum is tentative, dependent on the receipt of more than $1 million combined in four different grants.

The county seeks to fund 24/7 drug and alcohol assessments for police referrals, potentially funneling people to rehab instead of jail when they’re picked up by police. Officers would be trained to determine when such referrals would be appropriate, according to Tim Heitzman, chief probation officer for Northumberland County.

“If we can catch them and put them into treatment as opposed to incarceration,” Heitzman said, “I think that would make a big difference.”

A family drug treatment court is already established and the county looks to expand its scope. Additional funding is sought to enhance the traditional treatment court and a recovery specialist and family recovery specialist.

The rehab facility will be a therapeutic community model where patients undergo therapy and in-house chores. It’s unique to the coal region in that it offers a full step-down from inpatient to outpatient: inpatient stays from 28 to 90 days, intensive outpatient to outpatient.

“They could end up spending months and months and months with the same people developing that community support system,” said Jayme Hendricks, Gaudenzia, division director of outpatient services for Gaudenzia’s central region.

Gaudenzia began renovations in March. The state licensing process will follow. An opening date hasn’t been determined, Hendricks said, but she expects to be open at year’s end, outpatient coming before inpatient.

“Good things take time. Ultimately, this will be a great opportunity for our clients and our communities. It’s going to happen,” Hendricks said.