Commissioners hear Westbrook Health Services update

PARKERSBURG -- Westbrook Health Services is working to expand services for people dealing with addiction.

Officials with Westbrook appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to discuss what has been happening at their facility.

Last year, the commission voted to approve the transfer of the Amity Center, located at 1011 Mission Dr. in Parkersburg, to Westbrook as long as certain conditions were met, namely the property would revert back to the county if something would happen in the future and Westbrook could no longer maintain the property. Westbrook had received around $1 million in state grant money from the Ryan Brown Addiction Prevention and Recovery Fund to do work at and renovate Amity and needed ownership of the property.

"We felt you needed a thank you and we wanted to bring you up to date with what we have done," said Westbrook Board of Directors member John Rockhold.

Westbrook Vice President of Finance Marvin Boyce said since the change-over in ownership they have been able to spend $150,000 in replacing the roof at Amity.

"Thank you very much for allowing this to happen," he said of the transfer.

Westbrook has been treating people with substance abuse issues. They are currently at an 80 percent rate of completion for those in treatment which is well above the national average, said Suzanne Evans, Division Director of Residential Services.

"We are very pleased we have been able to maintain the individuals we have in treatment," she said.

The facility still tries to make the most of the funding they do get.

Many clients come to them through their Crisis Stabilization Unit, people coming in initially to detox from drugs or alcohol, and they are taken to Amity for one of their longer term treatment programs.

"We are fortunate we are able to offer a full continuum of care," Evans said.

Westbrook President and CEO Kevin Trippett said part of the grant funds were used to purchase four of the five buildings in the Parkersburg Medical Park, 2601 Dudley Ave., to create a 24-bed residential substance abuse treatment facility.

The bids on the remodel came in higher than what they expected. In working with the state, the initial number of treatment beds was reduced to 12 with renovations concentrated to one building on the property.

"We are in the middle of that remodeling," Trippett said. "We hope to have it up and running by the beginning of February."

The initial facility will be for men coming out of detox at Amity and into a longer-term program for around 90 days, he said, adding they could keep someone 120-150 days if needed.

Westbrook is currently applying for other grants, with the commission's backing through a letter of support, to fund programs to deal with the local homeless population.

"We wanted to extend our thanks," Trippett said.

Commission President Blair Couch said lawmakers look at existing programs to be able to expand on to provide more services.

"Westbrook certainly has a proven track record in our community," he said.

In other business, the commission hired Travis Fridenstine as a Wood County Deputy Sheriff for $40,103. Commissioners were told he has previous law-enforcement experience in the state of California for five years.