University Health holds ribbon cutting for new recovery and wellness center

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — University Health held a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday afternoon at its new Center for Wellness and Recovery at 22nd and Charlotte.

When it opens, the new facility will allow the hospital to help 2,500 people, which is more than double what they’re doing now.

“People can come here and get all the treatment at one place instead of having to go to multiple different locations and providers,” said Dr. Doug Burgess, the medical director of addiction services.

The most recent data from the State Health Department shows Kansas City had 220 overdose deaths in 2022, most of that due to fentanyl and opioids.

Meanwhile, 8.5 million Americans over the age of 12 battled a substance use disorder in 2023; that’s about 17% of the population.

Additionally, more than 20-million American adults (7.9%) suffered from both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder in 2023.

The new facility at Hospital Hill is still a work in progress. Furniture still needs to be brought in while the first level is without flooring due to a shipping delay from Hurricane Helene. Still, the goal is to open the facility for staff the week of Thanksgiving and then open it up for patients the following week.

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, who attended the ribbon cutting ceremony, helped secure $2.5 million dollars in federal grant money to turn the once empty warehouse into a place that can transform lives.

“Individuals who are going to need help are in the thousands, and before today there were very few places where we could actually lead people to seek out assistance,” Cleaver said.

Burgess describes this as a one-stop-shop, where out-patient services will be available for everyone including counseling, treatment, relapse prevention, and education services regardless of economic background.

“They’re not going to get better overnight. We try to approach it with more of a long-term solution and treat it as a chronic disease,” he said.

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