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Inpatient addiction treatment center opens in Las Cruces

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Inpatient addiction treatment center opens in Las Cruces

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The Las Cruces Recovery Center, the city’s only residential addiction center, opened its doors on October 10.

“Las Cruces is a vibrant, diverse and truly special place, and our entire team is ready to help address the significant unmet need in this community through an integrated, collaborative and patient-centered model of care” , said Hector Duran, CEO of Las Cruces Recovery. “We understand that mental health and substance use affect countless individuals and families, and we are committed to providing compassionate, world-class care for years to come.”

The 54-bed facility aims to fill a significant void in the community, offering comprehensive care that includes individual and group therapy, and intensive outpatient programs for adults living with substance use and mental health issues.

“There’s never been anything like what we have here in Las Cruces (recovery),” Las Cruces Recovery Nursing Director Michael Crespin said of the facility’s inpatient program. “I think it’s going to be a great asset to the community because this population has nowhere to go.”

Crespin, who has worked in behavioral health for 25 years, was also a member of the New Mexico Department of Health. There, he worked with substance use disorders and the suboxone program, which treats addiction to prescription pain medications, a focus at Las Cruces Recovery.

Of the 74 fatal overdoses in Doña Ana County in 2023, 77 percent were within Las Cruces city limits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“People with a substance use disorder are very misunderstood,” Crespin said. “People think of it more as a problem of willpower, or if they wanted to get better, they could, and so they don’t understand what it really is. It’s a disease.”

Mesilla Valley Hospital Community Liaison Lesley King-Steward confirmed patients are already transitioning to Las Cruces Recovery for long-term care. The center will also receive referrals for patients, Judge Alexander Rosario said at the center’s ribbon-cutting event.

“A place like this is long overdue here in our community, and I appreciate it. We need a place like this. And in fact, we already have one of our conference diversion program clients here,” he said. say Rosario “This is something that will serve a lot of people who really need this kind of help.”

The facility offers detoxification programs, residential treatment, and structured outpatient programs, which are highly involved programs for people who do not live at the Center. Outpatient programs focus on family and alumni support. This increases connection at all stages of the treatment and recovery process, according to a statement from the Center.

Jim Martin, a 19-year district court judge involved with the Veterans Treatment Court, echoed the sentiments of others, saying, “One key component that we’ve been missing in our community is treatment programs residential”.

He said he had to send clients for hospice care to Albuquerque, Santa Fe and as far away as Del Rio, Texas.

“Having a facility like this will help keep our veterans in the community, and having treatment in the community is so vital to success,” Martin said. “They’ll end up in the community and have that continued contact with their family. And their support in the community, in addition to being in a treatment center, will make all the difference in success.”

“We’re also going to look at starting the intensive care unit,” Crespin said. “So, once they’ve been discharged from residential treatment, they’ll be able to move in, to continue their sobriety.”

According to the American Addiction Centers, 40% to 60% of people relapse during recovery. To combat this, people with ambulatory care will attend daily sessions at the Center for group and face-to-face therapy, to work on coping skills and specific relapse prevention.

“The customers seem to really like it here, the environment,” he said. “I think everyone here treats them like family. And you know, a lot of us have really dedicated ourselves to the cause working with this population.”

Lauren Shults is the public safety reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News. Email her at [email protected] and follow her at X @laurenshults.

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