From left: Scott Scarbrough of Hickory Behavioural Network; Linda Sistrunk of Marietta Memorial Hospital; Marissa Caudil and Chyla Sephus, interns at Marietta Memorial; Chad Walker, Angel’s Harbor staff member; and Milt Nuzum, a former Marietta Municipal Court Judge, welcome visitors at the Belpre location for Angel’s Harbor. (Photo by Kristen Hainnkel)

BELPRE — Angel’s Harbor, an inpatient residential treatment center, is opening a new location in Belpre.

Located at 2515 Washington Blvd, the 32-bed facility will provide support and treatment services to women with substance abuse disorders. It will be equipped with living rooms, a full kitchen, bathrooms, showers, and laundry room with three washers and dryers.

“Its location is ideal because it’s near Marietta Memorial’s emergency room and doctors offices,” Milt Nuzum, a former Marietta Municipal Court judge who works with Angel’s Harbor, said. “We’re a treatment center for medical issues.”

Nuzum said the organization hopes to open the location by early August.

Staff member Chad Walker said he’d observed the construction progress since it began in early June.

Linda Sistrunk, director of behavioral health for Marietta Memorial Hospital, and Scott Scarbrough, director of business development with Hickory Behavioral Network, carry a bunk bed while staff member Chad Walker watches. (Photo by Kristen Hainnkel)

“I’ve been here every day and little by little it’s getting done,” he said.

Angel’s Harbor was founded by Tim and Abby Craft in spring 2022. Tim had lost his sister Brandi to an overdose a decade earlier and decided to do something to honor her. They opened their original 16-bed residential facility on State Route 339 in Vincent.

“We started taking clients May 31 of last year,” Walker said.

Angel’s Harbor has built relationships with local health organizations to serve the community since its opening.

“We can be part of the problem or part of the solution. We can make it worse or we can make it better,” Linda Sistrunk, director of behavioral health at Marietta Memorial Hospital, said.

Angel’s Harbor staff member Chad Walker points to a future bedroom at the Belpre location. (Photo by Kristen Hainnkel)

Sistrunk noted a shift in the treatment philosophies in the past decade.

“Ten years ago, you wouldn’t see a hospital system encouraging recovery. We had a delineation between community services and hospital services. Now we are invested in treating the reason behind the clinical issue,” she said.

Scott Scarbrough, director of business development at Hickory Behavioral Network in Cambridge, also works with Angel’s Harbor.

“We are a referral source for Marietta Memorial. They send us patients that need stabilization before entering residential treatment,” he said. “We would be sending Angel’s Harbor a referral for follow up care and ensure the continuity of care.”

The colleagues agreed on one thing: the quality of care the patients receive.

“We believe that everyone deserves kind, thoughtful, and compassionate care,” Sistrunk said.

“We follow them through the whole process from inpatient, to transitional care, to returning to society,” Walker said.

The approach to treatment combines faith- and science-based methods, Walker said. Counselors and facilities are certified by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

A 90-day residential inpatient treatment program, up to nine months in a transitional-living program and outpatient services such as classes and working with social workers are offered.

The organization also plans to transition its outpatient services to the Belpre location by the end of the year.

Kristen Hainkel can be reached at khainkel@newsandsentinel.com