Ensuring
critical mental health and addiction services remain accessible during the
ongoing health crisis, the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders
approved a contract renewal with Maryville Inc. to continue services at the
Post House treatment center in Pemberton Township.
The board
voted unanimously at its July 8 meeting to approve the lease and contract with
Maryville to continue detoxification and residential treatment operations at
the county-owned facility on Pemberton-Browns Mills Road.
“We cannot
forget that COVID-19 isn’t the only health crisis impacting our state and
nation,” said Freeholder Director Felicia Hopson. “If anything, the pandemic
has only exacerbated the challenges residents and their families face due to
substance use disorder and other mental health conditions. We must not abandon
them during this critical time.”
Maryville has
provided treatment services at the Post House facility since 2018. The 54-bed
facility offers services for male patients struggling with substance abuse and
other co-occurring disorder.
Under the
one-year contract and lease, Maryville will continue to provide both
residential treatment and detoxification services at the county-owned site,
which is one of New Jersey’s longest-operating
drug treatment centers and one of the area’s only providers of detoxification
and in-patient substance abuse treatment.
The
center was originally founded in 1968 in two rooms in a home on High Street in
Mount Holly before it was moved into the current building in Pemberton
Township. The county’s Department of Human Services operated the treatment
program there until 2010 when the freeholders began contracting with service
providers.
The
county first contracted with Maryville under a two-year agreement with a two
one-year options for renewal. Last year the state and county approved
increasing the facility’s beds from 48 to 54 beds.
“Addictive disease remains a public health crisis, now
exasperated by the COVID-19 crisis. Through partnerships like this one,
we can help save lives and prepare people to re-engage as successful members of
our communities,” said Maryville CEO Kendria McWilliams.
Freeholder
Director Hopson said the pandemic has made demand for services all the more
important due to the pressures placed on individuals and families from the disease,
isolation and physical distancing and in some cases the loss of employment or
the adjustment of working from home.
Recent
surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
Census Bureau found that about 33% of New Jersey respondents reported
experiencing symptoms of anxiety disorder or depressive disorder during the
first week of July, ranking the state in the
“These
are stressful times for all of us. But for those struggling with substance use
disorder, the pandemic is practically a perfect storm,” Shirla Simpson,
director of the county Department of Human Services. “I applaud the freeholders
for continuing their commitment to ensuring that help and support remains
available.”
In addition to Post House, Maryville operates a 76 bed
detoxification and residential treatment center in Williamstown for both men
and women and three outpatient treatment locations, serving more than 6,500
patients a year.
For
more information about available assistance or to get help, call 1-844-REACHNJ.