Prarie Center Detox Unit Reopens, Looks to Next Year

The re-opening of Prairie Center Health System's detox unit in Champaign is paying immediate dividends for those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

Most of the facility's 10 beds have remained filled since it reopened last week. State funds were restored to the unit last month; the facility had been closed since August. But spokeswoman Betty Seidel says the uncertainty over getting that money for another year has prompted a series of community forums on the Detox unit's long-term viability. Seidel says health care professionals and law enforcement from Champaign, Vermilion and Ford Counties are seeking out additional resources, and they don't necessarily include money.

"Nursing, medicine, training, or something of that sort," says Seidel. "We haven't really exausted all the possibilties of help that we feel would keep the doors open and we feel strong that we can go a year. But beyond the year, we know that need to have some more resources," Seidel says the first in the series of forums last week served largely as a tutorial on what services are provided at the Detox facility. Attendees included county sheriff's departments, those from hospital emergency rooms, and mental health professionals that are often responsible for bringing patients into the detox unit. Prairie Center does have one fundraiser scheduled. All the funds from its annual golf outing this June will go towards that facility.