Northampton County's first detoxification and rehabilitation center coming to Bushkill Township

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Northampton County’s first drug and alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation center is slated to open next year in Bushkill Township.

Northampton County officials and township family physician Albert DeFranco hope to break ground by late December on the Better Health Institute at 448 Moorestown Road.

DeFranco has a family practice near the Route 512 site. He said he has worked with county officials on the project since 2007 and hopes to open its doors by late spring 2012, he said.

The county is supplying about $2.2 million in state reinvestment funds while DeFranco said he has contributed about $8,000 to $9,000.

“This is historic,” said Ross Marcus, director of human services for the county. “This is the first time Northampton County will have a drug and alcohol establishment.”

land.JPGExpress-Times Photo | PAMELA SROKA-HOLZMANNThe Better Health Institute is slated to open on this tract at 448 Moorestown Road, Bushkill Township.

DeFranco said once completed, the 10,000-square-foot, 24-unit, one-story building across the street from the Country Junction General Store and the St. Luke’s Wind Gap Medical Center will offer seven beds for detoxification patients and 16 beds for rehabilitation patients.

Patients living in Northampton County will receive priority, however, DeFranco said residents from surrounding counties will be welcome.

Nearby residents had mixed views about the facility.

“It is our neighborhood,” said Mike Zimmer, co-owner of Original Dough Boy’s Restaurant, 230 W. Moorestown Road. “It’s questionable of what’s going to come out.”

Zimmer’s wife, Intsafka, also said she is concerned about the center’s patients.

Robert Wambold, however, said DeFranco is free to do what he wants with his property.

“I don’t want people telling me what to do on my property,” he said.

DeFranco said he sympathizes with residents, but stresses his patients are regular people who might have lost their jobs in a tough economic climate or became homeless and had nowhere to turn but to drugs and alcohol.

“This isn’t arch criminals here. This could be your next-door neighbor,” he said. “Some people can’t cope with the stress of life. Most of these people are going undiagnosed in early years when they should have been diagnosed with these problems. Now, it festers into the adult phase.”

The project has approvals from Bushkill Township’s zoning hearing board and board of supervisors.

“They weren’t opposed to it,” DeFranco said. “The only voices of opinion were it was needed and a well-deserved thing.”

Bushkill supervisors and planners did not return calls seeking comment Friday.

About 32 employees will work at the center, including nurses, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and other counselors and medical personnel. Employees will work during three available shifts.

In the program, which DeFranco described as “very structured,” patients will receive evaluations and a physical exam before entering into the detoxification program, which could last two to three days on average. During the rehabilitation portion of the program, there will be various forms of individual and group counseling.

Patients will stay at the facility for about one to two weeks on average. Following the program, they will continue to receive outpatient treatment.

“We’re not going to allow them to go out there with no patient support,” DeFranco said. “The whole idea of this program is to teach them a new way of life and adjust to life’s stressers and be able to handle them.”

The funding for the project comes from HealthChoices reinvestment funds and was approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. HealthChoices is Pennsylvania’s name for its Medicaid program, which provides health care for low-income residents and is funded by the federal and state government.

Marcus said counties are given the option of administering the behavioral health portion of HealthChoices, to assure coordination with county-based mental health and drug and alcohol services.

Aside from his work as a physician, DeFranco is a former teacher, principal and schools superintendent in a Sussex County, N.J., school district, is a U.S. Army veteran and was a physician for the Northampton County Prison.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2011/10/northampton_county_and_bushkil.html