Heywood Explains Vision For Rehab Center

Heywood Explains Vision For Rehab Center

+ click to enlarge Photo by Andrew Mansfield Heywood Healthcare Pres­ident and CEO Win Brown spoke recently at the company’s new property in Peter­sham about the plan to start a new treatment facility there called The Quabbin Retreat. ‘When this is fully operational, we will have 150 employees.’ — Win Brown, Heywood Healthcare Andrew Mansfield Reporter PETERSHAM  Heywood Healthcare is making a big step toward helping those suffering from drug addiction in North Central Massachusetts. The organization hosted a celebration among company employees and local area leaders on Monday at their recently purchased property at 211 North Main St. in Petersham, which will become The Quabbin Retreat, a mental health and substance abuse treatment facility. The property was formerly owned by the Sisters of Assumption, a Roman Catho­lic religious order. “We’re very humbled to by the asset they have handed over to us, to allow us to help those in need, which is what they would have done,” said Heywood Healthcare President and CEO Win Brown. Heywood Healthcare is a nonprofit healthcare system which includes Heywood Hospital and Athol Hospital, among other health centers. Mr. Brown said that the plan to turn the Sisters of Assumption property into The Quabbin Retreat has been underway for over a year. The building is 75,000 square feet and the facility will open sometime in the middle of 2016, but the entire project is scheduled to take three years to complete and is contingent upon Heywood Healthcare receiving funding from state and federal sources. “We see it as a three-year project with three distinct phases,” Mr. Brown said. The first phase of the project, set to be operational next year, is creating a program to offer continued support for adults who have detoxed from drug use. The program will have 26 to 35 beds for patients. Mr. Brown said there will be a screening process to determine which patients are accepted into the program and a requirement that patients have detoxed for at least 72 hours. He said Heywood Healthcare will take patients who have either public or private insurance. “We will not cherry-pick payers. Our role is to keep as many patients as we can,” he said. The second and third phases of the project are creating an adolescent treatment facility and an inpatient detox unit, respectively. “When this is fully operational, we will have 150 employees and generate $11 million in revenue,” Mr. Brown said. “We just see a screaming need for treatment in the area. It’s a great partnership and I’m very pleased with the investment,” said Athol Town Manager Shaun Suhoski. Mr. Brown said that the first phase of the facility costs $5 million, of which $1 million is provided by Heywood Healthcare. The overall cost of the facility will be about $25 million and Heywood Healthcare is in the process of securing funding, through grants or loans, for the completion of the project. “Getting state support has been a challenge. It is Beacon Hill and not everything is linear,” said Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown expressed that he is confident Heywood Healthcare can complete the project because there is “a lot of passion” behind the issue of mental health and addiction and a clear demand for services. He said that the community choosing Heywood Healthcare for health care services is a necessary component to making The Quabbin Retreat project a success. “That is the key to make it all work. We can take care of 90 to 95 percent of your health care needs,” he said. Part of the former Sisters of Assumption property was a cottage house. The property includes a garden area outside and a veranda overlooking the backyard. The Quabbin Retreat will include a combination of group areas and private rooms for patients. “This facility is perfect for what we need,” said Frank Yavorsky, director of facilities and plant operations for Heywood Healthcare. Construction on the property is set to begin before the year is over. Asbestos needs to be removed and a new septic system needs to be installed. Mr. Brown said that the facility will focus on treating both behavioral health and drug addiction issues because a majority of patients have overlapping needs. “Those seem to be the ones that are the most gaping holes in the continuum of care. We’ll be a safety net to catch people to have the highest rate of success as possible,” he said.