New mental health care facility opens in Madison County
MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A new mental health facility is open in the Huntsville-Madison area that will offer care and treatment, which it says is the first of its kind in the area.
The opening of Longleaf Recovery and Wellness signals the beginning of much-needed mental health and substance abuse treatment, as providers are struggling to keep up with the demand for resources in North Alabama.
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“Treatment is important and it’s important in this county because of the lack of resources that are located here,” said Breana Marshall, Clinical Director at Longleaf.
The creation of the facility comes just one month after the opening of the Hoover Recovery Center, a mental health asset for those also suffering from substance abuse.
“It’s very rare that we see a case where a client comes in that has a substance use disorder but does not have a mental health disorder,” Marshall explained. “Not only that but a lot of mental health disorders are underlined. It’s like the substance abuse disorders that they have been experiencing for years, it just fuels that mental health, and not only that, if you struggle with that substance abuse disorder, you’re not treating the mental health aspect.”
This facility is part of the first step to increasing access to mental health care across the state. A report published back in 2022 by Mental Health America ranked Alabama 50th out of 51 states (including the District of Columbia) in access to mental health care.
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“All you have to do is watch the news every evening to understand that there is a drastic need in our state and in our country at large for quality substance use treatment programs,” said Evan Seale, Program Director at Longleaf. “We’ve seen the effect that those have on our families, our communities, and our culture. We want to provide not only more treatment options but better treatment options.”
Longleaf is planning to open the Madison facility in the coming days.
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