Filling the gaps: New Hanover mulls real estate buy for new detox center

Wilmington's only state-funded detox center announced in the fall of 2020 it would close its doors. Now, nearly two years later, plans for a new facility to help those in the Port City struggling with addiction are moving forward.

The closing of detox center The Harbor in early 2021 left New Hanover County’s uninsured without a local treatment option, sparking a public campaign to “Save the Harbor.” This summer, local healthcare providers announced plans to open a 36-bed detox and crisis facility to fill that gap.

In a move that pushes these plans forward, New Hanover leaders are set to vote on buying a former assisted living facility located at 1605 Robin Hood Road near New Hanover Regional Medical Center. The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners will consider the $1.65 million purchase during a regular meeting Monday. The item is part of the board’s consent agenda.

The 13,900-square-foot building operated as Sherwood Manor, a longtime senior rest home that operated until at least 2018, according to StarNews archives. The building will be renovated to include 16 beds for detox and 20 beds for transitional housing, according to the board’s agenda.

The former detox facility, The Harbor, stopped taking admissions and new referrals in April 2021. New Hanover Regional Medical Center bought the center and the land around it in 2017 with plans to demolish the building and turn it into a parking lot. The facility’s closing was delayed several times as facility operator RHA Health Services looked unsuccessfully for a new location.

Then in June, Trillium Health Resources, a mental health service provider, announced it had plans to re-open a facility-based crisis and medical detox center with RHA Health Services in Wilmington.

“As the full picture of those affected by the pandemic continues to come to light, mental health and substance use crisis services have never been more in need,” Trillium CEO Joy Futrell said at the time. “This new facility will allow RHA to reopen The Harbor and provide treatment and hope that has been lacking.”

Healthcare manager Trillium and provider RHA will oversee the facility’s detox center while LINC, a local nonprofit focused on helping the formerly incarcerated transition back into society, will manage the center’s transitional housing.

New Hanover County will coordinate with the providers to develop a plan for renovations and to help structure its operations of the facility.

Funding to buy the property will come out of the county’s funding for capital projects. The price of the property can’t exceed the $1.65 million list price, according to details of the budget amendment.

New Hanover County is in the process of building a peer-led residential drug and alcohol recovery facility that will be called The Healing Place of New Hanover County. The facility is expected to be completed this year.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New Wilmington detox center to fill addiction gaps