Cambridge getting new addiction recovery center, hopeful that it will help those struggling during pandemic

CAMBRDIGE, Md.- For years,  this building in Cambridge,  which used to house a lock down youth facility, sat empty.

But now, it’s being reborn as the Eastern Shore’s newest drug and alcohol recovery center.

“We want to be not just a recovery center in Cambridge, we want to be the Cambridge center,” Joe Weisbord, Executive Director of Avenues Recovery Center, said.

A grand opening for the new Avenues Recovery Center in Cambridge will be happening here on Monday, December 21st.

Once open, they will be offering a 60-day dual diagnosis treatment program to help patients through their recovery journey.

“Literally from day one when people walk into the door, they work with our discharge planner, they work with our case managers to find them appropriate placement, so that they can continue their recovery once they leave here,” Weisbord said.

We are told this facility has a lot to offer from medical detox, to therapy sessions, to psych sessions and so much more.

” First, we have 104 beds here, which gives us plenty of space to bring people in,” Weisbord said. “We have a gym, we have a fitness center, yoga studio, we have an outdoor basketball court.”

The National Director of Clinical Engagement at Avenues Recovery Center told 47ABC he’s excited they will be able to serve the Eastern Shore, especially during a time that’s been hard for many trying to recover.

“Fatalities from overdoses are up 9.1 percent nationally,” Russ Francome, National Director of Clinical Engagement at Avenues Recovery Center , said. “What we are doing in response to that is widening that eligibility requirement by excepting medicate, working with all commercial insurance to try to get people into our supported environment.”

And with that said, the center is going to be open to partnering with the community to make sure people get the help they deserve.

” We’re just looking to partner with anyone and everyone to really put a dent in this epidemic and it takes partnership and it takes a community,” Francome said.

We are told staff and patients will have to wear masks.

And for first week patients they will have their own rooms to sleep in.

You can log on to their website www.avenuesrecoverymaryland.com to learn more.