Henrico selects private partner to operate detox center

Henrico officials this week announced details about the planned construction of a detox center in Eastern Henrico.

The county has selected Pinnacle Rehabilitation Network LLC to operate the facility after Henrico funds the majority of its construction costs. (The Henrico Board of Supervisors has appropriated $12 million for construction, and an additional $1 million will come from federal community project funding through legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger.)

The center will be designed to serve as an alternative to arrests and emergency room visits for people who need a safe and therapeutic environment to seek help, get clean, and initiate what will be a long recovery process, outgoing Henrico County Deputy Manager for Public Safety Tony McDowell told Henrico supervisors during an Aug. 9 work session.

The 20,000-square-foot facility will occupy 20 acres of land at the Eastern Government Center and include 30 patient rooms and six observation beds, 15 of which will be reserved for Henrico patients.

Henrico plans to build the state-of-the-art facility and dedicate 24 months to design, construct and open it. The operation will then be handed off to Pinnacle, a national company that has 13 other successful locations in Virginia, according to its CEO Joe Pritchard.

From 2013 to 2017, Henrico saw a 67% increase in drug related offenses, according to McDowell’s presentation. In 2020, the Citizen reported that police had responded to 41% more overdoses than in 2019.

The increases in drug use also led to a surge in addiction related crimes such as larceny, trespassing and fraud, McDowell said. As judges began to deny pre-trial release, and as the county saw steady increases in probation violations leading to subsequent re-incarceration, Henrico’s jail facilities surged to 178% of capacity.

Rather than increase jail capacity, county officials decided to develop a comprehensive approach toward substance-use disorders by expanding prevention-related efforts, outpatient treatment options, access, and jail diversion options.

The decision to create the detox center came out of the Henrico Recovery Roundtable, a program launched in 2019 and co-chaired by supervisors Tyrone Nelson (Varina District) and Tommy Branin (Three Chopt District). After nine public meetings and more than a dozen site visits, HRR issued a report in early 2020 recommending a more comprehensive approach to substance abuse disorders, encompassing prevention, treatment, and criminal justice system diversion.

The partnership with Pinnacle is another in a growing list of public-private partnership projects in the county, akin to those in place with the Rebkee Company for the Sports and Events Center at Virginia Center Commons and with NOVA Aquatics of Virginia and Thalhimer at the aquatics center at Regency Square.

In each case, the county has funded the construction or renovation work and retained ownership of the properties but the partners are tasked with operating the facilities on a day-to-day basis (while also keeping profits), thereby eliminating ongoing financial obligations for the county.

The facility will operate on a 24-hour intake model. Patients would be admitted from self-referral, be transported by police or EMS, be referred by a clinic, or as a transition from jail or a local ER. The programs would be focused on stabilization, medically supervised detoxification, introduction to therapy and recovery concepts, Pritchard said.

All patients would leave with an ongoing plan for treatment and/or recovery. Pinnacle would work in collaboration with community-based addiction treatment and recovery services, as well as with Henrico Mental Health. McDowell referred to this process as a “warm hand-off” from the detox center to county programs.