By Blake Ashley Frino-Gerl
The Rodeway Inn closed this year, and is now open to serve as Morro Bay Recovery (MBR). It is operating as a residential alcohol and drug treatment program. The owners, Twins Bay Incorporated, made the decision as a means to make consistent income and provide what they feel is a positive move.
Welcomed from all over the county, residents will reside on the property to overcome their addictions. It is the only in-patient drug and alcohol treatment center in San Luis Obispo County. Rich Donald, former general manager of Rodeway Inn for the past two years, will now work as the Facility Manager and Outreach Coordinator.
Committed to protecting the privacy and security of Protected Health Information (PHI) in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its applicable regulations, MBR accepts many insurance plans, as well as a sliding scale fee system for those who are uninsured or underinsured.
Employees assisting patients are residential alcohol and drug technicians, certified substance abuse counselors, and therapists. The facility’s in-house services include group and individual counseling; medication treatment and relapse prevention; after-care plans; and family, group and holistic therapy.
“Therapists at the facility are responsible for providing one-on-one therapy and assessment evaluations,” Donald says. Clients will receive 15-30 minute daily checks 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The swimming pool has been filled with cement and will be used as a recreation area. To go off premises, clients will be chaperoned by staff.
MBR will eventually work up to the approved 28 patients as needed. It offers one- and two-week Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) detox and the “residential portion” is typically 30 days, but can be completed in up to 90 days.
MBR’s website states that its services set it apart from other addiction recovery centers in that it has an “unwavering commitment” to the clients’ journey and success. Donald says that it is “cookie cutter for other facilities.” He adds that typically 70 percent of people make it to a year of sobriety who stay in the 30-day program, while the success rate falls to 30 percent for those who do not do the full 30 days.
For those who choose to not complete the program, they will be driven to the community they originated from, and that goes the same for those who complete the full program.
Relapse life skills, family integration, and case managers are provided to better ensure their success rate. Once the program is completed, then a release plan is set.
Donalds says his bosses are “community-minded people” and aside for their desire to keep the property running, they found a need in the county for this change of business.
