An $18-million addiction detoxification unit, rehabilitation, and residential outpatient facility in Lompoc was certified by the state on Aug. 29, which means it can open and begin serving patients as soon as staffers are hired and trained.
Jim White, who was in charge of construction for the Champion Center, said the facility will have a 34-bed detox unit, an 80-bed rehabilitation clinic, a 16-bed residential outpatient unit, and four condos that could accommodate up to 30 people. He added that the center will focus on serving first responders—police, firefighters, and emergency medical techs—and military service members through its Heroes Program.
It’s a unique population that’s not likely to open up and share with the civilian population, according to Gordon Scheible, who retired from the Navy after 25 years and is a certified chemical addiction counselor. Scheible currently works at the Hemet Valley Recovery Center in Hemet, Calif., and will be managing community relations for the Champion Center, as well as training new counseling staff and initially functioning as a counselor.
“Our goal is to establish a program that works specifically with that population so that these people feel comfortable,” Scheible said. “PTSD is a huge issue.”
He added that post-traumatic stress disorder can cause chemical dependency and is often triggered by experiences that can be unique to first responders and service members—and they aren’t likely to share that info with civilians. Talking about traumatic experiences is key to treating PTSD and the addiction it’s caused.
The Champion Center will focus on “holistic treatment,” which Scheible acknowledges is a buzzword, but he added that the term is an appropriate way to describe how the new center plans to treat addiction.
“There’s more to treatment than just not taking drugs anymore,” he said. “That’s the physiological part of it.”
There’s also the psychological and emotional parts of things as well as what he calls the spiritual component. Scheible believes the key to treating addiction is helping people find a positive balance between their mind, body, and spirit.
“People can have a spiritual dimension to their lives, even if they don’t feel for a particular god or religion,” said Scheible, who’s also an Episcopal priest. “We want people to learn to be well in all respects. … We’re not just concerned with someone being sober and clean.”
Now that the center is licensed by the state, Scheible said he can begin hiring more people to staff the different units as well as training them. He estimates that things should be ready to go by the beginning of November.
This article appears in Sep 11-18, 2014.