Samaritan Health Services will build a new 16-bed facility on a recently purchased site in Lebanon for its future residential substance abuse treatment program, with a targeted opening date in October 2017.
Earlier this year, Samaritan purchased the former Teen Challenge International site at the corner of Hwy. 34 and 20 to develop the new service, to be called Samaritan Treatment & Recovery Services. The two existing structures on the site – which date back to the 1940s – will be taken down to make way for the new facility.
“We examined the buildings and decided that a new facility will best meet the needs of this important service,” said Marty Cahill, CEO of Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, who will have administrative responsibility over the program.
The initial consideration was to develop the program within the existing facility, with an opening date of January 2017. Demolition of the current facility and construction of the new center is expected to take nine months with total project cost estimated at $2 million, Cahill said.
Samaritan will develop a monument on the site to commemorate the former uses of the site, which included an Assembly of God church as well as Teen Challenge International’s regional headquarters. Options for the monument are being considered, and bricks from the church building will be used.
Kelley Story joined Samaritan earlier this year to develop the program. Story brings 20 years of experience from previous positions at Community Outreach, Inc. and other regional organizations.
Story is currently securing state licensing and hiring staff for the program. Samaritan is also recruiting for a medical director to lead the program with Story.