MERIDIAN, Idaho — Giving people a light in the midst of a dark time is Northpoint Recovery’s mission.
“We see people coming in, they’re at a really tough point in their lives,” said Erica Lopez, Vice President of the Idaho Market for Northpoint Recovery. “They’ve lost a lot of hope.”
Lopez said there is a growing need around the Treasure Valley for mental health and recovery resources. To help address that need, Northpoint opened a new inpatient recovery facility in Meridian this week.
Their previous location off of Ustick had 22 beds; this one has 48.
Typically, Northpoint patients stay in inpatient care for 24 to 28 days. Right now, Lopez said there is a waitlist for people seeking help for their addiction.
“It’s been difficult because we've always had to tell the community you can get in tomorrow, or maybe in three days,” Lopez said.
But Lopez said that is not good enough.
“People call in crisis,” Lopez said. “They need help right now, not in three days. So that was the main motivator, the goal in opening this building, so we can serve the community as they need it, not as we can provide it.”
With major population growth, Lopez said people going through mental health crises and addition need someplace to go.
This new inpatient center gives them space, not only to help more Idahoans, but space to implement new programs as well.
“We’re able to do some split groups from gender focus groups, and just in general, process groups, activity groups, things that we weren't able to do simultaneously,” Lopez said.
And it is over 27,000 square feet – almost 5 times bigger than the previous one. She said they wanted to ensure personal spaces were also upgraded.
“Our rooms will now have a restroom and each room, which we haven't had before,” Lopez said. “So, that'll be a lot better infection control wise and being able to provide some private space to our patients.”
Construction for this new building started in July 2021. After a long wait, she said patients move in on Thursday.
The grand opening on Tuesday coincided with National Recovery Month, which is in September. Helping the greatest number of people is always the goals, Lopez said.
“Addiction doesn't make the person,” Lopez said. “They're still in there somewhere. And that's our goal … is to find them.”
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