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BALTIMORE, Md. — Evidencing her strategic priorities to ensure public safety and create healthy communities, Mayor Catherine E. Pugh today outlined her Administration’s plans for the city’s first Stabilization Center, also the first in the State of Maryland. Lieutenant Governor Boyd K. Rutherford and Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen joined the Mayor to announce the planned location site which is the former Hebrew Orphan Asylum at 2700 Rayner Avenue in the city’s Coppin Heights community. The Stabilization Center is scheduled to open in spring 2019. Also announced by the Mayor is the planned opening of the pilot center at Tuerk House.
“Like many cities across our country, Baltimore is working to counteract the opioid epidemic that has devastated families and disrupted whole communities,” said Mayor Pugh. “This first-of-its-kind ‘Stabilization Center’ will provide critical resources for those dealing with the disease of addiction and support their determination to get their lives back on track and become productive citizens of our community. I am grateful to my former colleagues of the Maryland General Assembly and Governor Hogan for providing the funding for this treatment and support center. I am also grateful to our Health Commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen, for leading this important initiative.”
The $3.6 million in capital funds from the Maryland State Legislature will be directed to the Baltimore City Health Department, with its partner Behavioral Health System Baltimore, in order to offer a safe place for individuals who are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol to deal with their addiction and receive short-term medical and social interventions. These include medical screening and monitoring, connections to behavioral health and social services, and buprenorphine induction to treat opioid addiction. Maryland’s Department of Health, through funding provided by the 21st Centuries CURES Act approved by Congress, and the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission, is providing a total of $2.6 million of operating expenses.
“As the first of its kind in Maryland, this stabilization center will help us connect those in need of treatment to the resources they need to get better,” said Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford. “We hope to replicate this effort in other parts of the state to support our ongoing collaborative efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.”
Through emergency medical system transport, the Center will divert patients who meet specific criteria from emergency departments and provide stronger links to community-based behavioral health care. It will create a non-traditional access point for individuals with behavioral health needs who engage in high-risk substance use and related behaviors who are experiencing a crisis and/or at risk of overdose. This is the beginning of Baltimore's efforts to create a 24/7 behavioral health emergency department.
This pilot Stabilization Center at Tuerk House will serve 10-15 individuals at a time, with an average length of stay between four to six hours. The new site will serve 30-35 individuals when it opens. Services include beds; medical monitoring; hydration and electrolyte replacement; food, clothing and showers; screening and intervention referrals; and case management for up to 30 days after a client’s stay. The facility is not a walk-in service. Clients will be transported to the center by emergency medical service and behavioral health crisis teams.
"Patients in need of addiction and mental health services should be able to access treatment at the time that they need it, which is what we would provide for people requesting help for any other disease,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen. “I thank Mayor Pugh for her leadership, and the Maryland Legislature, Governor’s office, and the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission for making this center—the beginning of an ‘ER’ for addiction and mental health—a reality. The Stabilization Center is one step in the right direction to provide 24/7 access to evidence-based, compassionate treatment to all of our residents.”
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