ERLANGER, Ky. — The Mary Gandy Travis Residential Treatment Center in Erlanger is celebrating one year of helping local residents overcome addiction.
In a short amount of time, the center has seen plenty of success and served more than 2,100 people in the community.
"We have been able to offer treatment on-demand 100 percent," said Cassidy Lekan, chief clinical officer for the treatment center. "The center was created to eliminate the waitlist in NKY and we can say we have successfully done that."
Lekan said the center provides more than 160,000 services for residents, including withdrawal management, residential services, intensive outpatient services, outpatient services and a full array of wraparound services.
"I think there's a great need for substance use disorder treatment in NKY," said Lekan. "We are not alone in this as one of the providers in NKY -- there's still a lot of stigma associated with the disease of addiction and it can make it very difficult for a person to pick up the phone and call to come in."
Even so, the center, which has a total of 180 beds, has seen around 10 patients a day, with each one staying for an average of 30 days. The center's resources include two wings, one for women and another for men, in addition to a cafeteria, primary care clinic and an outdoor space.
Within the busy last year of the center's opening, it has helped thousands of patients in its managed withdrawal unit and provided 975 primary care appointments within the on-site health clinic. Across the street from the center is another location where their agency, Transitions, offers other services.
"With this building, we had the opportunity to take a look at where there were any gaps in services, and put them in this building," said Lekan.
Transitions is celebrating 50 years of helping the community, and with the new center's one year of service, they're able to team up to help even more people.
"As a substance use disorder changes in how sometimes drugs of choice change, we want to be proactive in our interventions and get ahead of the curb so we can treat people with what they need," said Lekan.
