Years of work by New Hanover County to deliver the “very best evidence-based treatment program” culminated in the recent opening of The Healing Place. Now, the facility says it is recovery housing, not a treatment center, despite advertising itself as the latter (and despite New Hanover County and others referring to its services as treatment). Officials call the distinction ‘semantics,’ but it could mean the difference in millions of dollars in opioid settlement funding and the health outcomes of hundreds, even thousands, of people seeking help for addiction.
According to U.S. government health experts, medications like Suboxone are more effective than other treatments in reducing illicit opioid use and overdose deaths. But not everyone is on board with prescribing these medications including New Hanover County’s new drug treatment facility, The Healing Place.
The Healing Place of New Hanover County was set to open in May 2022, but because of adverse weather conditions, the pandemic, and supply chain issues it’s likely the facility will open later in the fall.