4/23/2018 Baltimore to open ‘ER for addiction’ with state funding – Maryland Daily Record

https://thedailyrecord.com/2018/03/27/baltimore-to-open-er-for-addiction-with-state-funding/ 1/2

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen.(The Daily Record / Maximilian Franz)

Eye on Annapolis

Baltimore to open ‘ER for addiction’ with state funding By: Tim Curtis Daily Record Business Reporter March 27, 2018

Baltimore will announce plans Wednesday to open a stabilization center, providing help for peoplestruggling with addiction and other mental health disorders.

The stabilization center will revitilize space at the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in the city’s Coppin Heightsneighborhood. While that project is underway, a pilot center will open at nearby Tuerk House.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen called the center “an ER for addiction and mentalhealth.”

“Patients in need of addiction and mental health services should be able to access treatment at thetime that they need it, which is what we would provide for people requesting help for any otherdisease,” she said in a statement. “The Stabilization Center is one step in the right direction to provide24/7 access to evidence-based compassionate treatment to all of our residents.”

Most of the funding for the center will come from the state, through the federal 21st Centuries CURESAct.

The Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission are providing $2.6 million of the operating expenses.

Another $3.6 million has been secured through the state legislature, the city health department said.

The center will provide a place for people under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol to receive short-term medical and social interventions. Potential servicesinclude medical screening, connections to behavioral health and social services and buprenorphine to treat opioid addiction.

The stabilization center will be run by the Baltimore City Health Department with the Behavioral Health System Baltimore.

Share this:

Email Print Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Google

Tagged with: MENTAL HEALTHMENTAL HEALTH OPIOID ADDICTIONOPIOID ADDICTION

To purchase a reprint of this article, contact reprints@thedailyrecord.com.

ONE COMMENT

March 28, 2018 at 8:58 amElizabeth Tompkins

My son is 46 and is an alcoholic. He is coming g to Baltimore to get a fresh start. He needs immediate help, rehab, counseling, detox, etc. Where can westart with try his process?

LEAVE A REPLY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LAW BUSINESS ANNAPOLIS COMMENTARY SPECIAL SECTIONS JOBS PUBLIC NOTICES EVENTS ADVERTISE MORE

Search... Subscribe Manage Account LOG IN

4/23/2018 First stabilization center coming to Maryland - WMAR2NEWS

https://www.wmar2news.com/news/region/baltimore-city/-13 1/2

First stabilization center comingto BaltimoreBY: WMAR StaffPOSTED: 6:15 PM, Mar 28, 2018UPDATED: 6:25 PM, Mar 28, 2018

Share Article

BALTIMORE, Md. (WMAR) - Maryland’s first stabilization center is being built in Baltimore.

The space at the Old Hebrew Orphan Asylum in Coppin Heights will be transformed into a safe

place for those using drugs or alcohol to get treatment.

The Health Department and Behavioral Health System Baltimore secured nearly $3.5 million

from the state to build the center.

Treatment will include medical screening and monitoring and connections to behavioral health

and social services. Patients addicted to opioids will also have access to Buprenorphine

induction.

"I've treated thousands of patients with addiction who came to the ER they know they need

help, I know they need help, and every medical provider who sees them know that they need

help,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Doctor Lena Wen. “Yet the ER is not always

the best place to help them. These patients need behavioral health support, and social and

wrap around services."

The center will be equipped with 15 beds and will serve about 500 people in its first year. A

pilot center will be opened until construction is complete.

WMARWEATHER TRAFFIC ALL SECTIONS 61

Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or

redistributed. close

4/23/2018 Baltimore stabilization center to help counteract opioid epidemic

http://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-stabilization-center-to-help-counteract-opioid-epidemic/19623440 1/4

Ad

20" Alterna Vent Free Black Steel FireplaceBurner with Manual Safety Control Ignition for...

$505.00 If you're looking for sleek and ultra-modern fireplace,then consider Starfire...

Ad closed by

Stop seeing this ad Why this ad? We'll try not to show that ad againAd closed by

Advertisement

SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Baltimore stabilization center to help counteract opioid epidemic

Updated: 4:08 PM EDT Mar 28, 2018

Lowell Melser

Coming up SoonNOWCAST

0 61°

Baltimore, MD 21201

4/23/2018 Baltimore stabilization center to help counteract opioid epidemic

http://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-stabilization-center-to-help-counteract-opioid-epidemic/19623440 2/4

BALTIMORE —

News Reporter, Meteorologist

Baltimore's mayor is making one of her biggest pushes yet to fight the opioid epidemic in the city.

City officials said the stabilization center is three years in the making, and it will be the first of its kind in Maryland, and one of

the first in the country, to help people battling addiction and get them on the right path.

Advertisement

In the ongoing effort to counteract the opioid epidemic, Mayor Catherine Pugh announced Wednesday the planned opening

of the Tuerk House Stabilization Center, located in the former Hebrew Orphan Asylum in Coppin Heights.

"It's an alternative to incarceration. It's an alternative to an emergency center. It's a way of treating people and providing

them with the wraparound services with drug addiction, alcoholism. This is the kind of thing we will become a model for the

state, a model for the country," Pugh said.

City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said the center will offer a safe place for people dealing with addiction to receive

short-term medical care and a path for the future.

"This is the beginning of a 24/7 ER for addiction," Wen said. "In the ER, people get medical treatment, but the ER is not always

the best place to get wraparound services, like social services and specific behavioral health support."

The city secured $3.6 million in capital funds from the state for the building, and the Maryland Community Health Resources

Commission is providing an additional $2.6 million for operating expenses.

4/23/2018 Baltimore stabilization center to help counteract opioid epidemic

http://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-stabilization-center-to-help-counteract-opioid-epidemic/19623440 3/4

The Tuerk House will serve 10-15 people at a time. Those people will not be able to walk in, rather they must be transported

there.

"It's a diversion from the ER. It's not a walk-in, but patients would otherwise be going to the ER, would be coming to the site if

they have addiction or specific mental health needs," Wen said.

Substance abuse experts said the new building and program won't do enough to battle the opioid problem, and feel the

facility should be used as a long-term care facility rather than short-term.

"This is maybe a step above a shelter," substance abuse expert Mike Gimbel said. "When they go to an ER, when they go to a

stabilization center, after a day or two, everyone is stuck with 'Where do we send them?' Because we don't have enough beds

and a long-term facility, which we know is the most successful program to treat opiate addicts."

The mayor said the stabilization center is expected to open in the spring of 2019.

Get WBAL-TV 11 News On The Go

Sponsored ContentApril 17, 2018

Mortgage Payoff Trick Eliminates Up to 15 Years of PaymentsHomeowners could save thousands by refinancing at today's near historic low rates.

By LendingTree

WBAL-TV 11 BALTIMORE