Gosnold plans addiction treatment expansion

June 15--FALMOUTH -- The Cape's largest addiction treatment organization hopes to expand its services within the year.

Gosnold Inc. plans to relocate its longtime treatment operation on Ter Huen Drive to a former nursing home at 359 Jones Road.

The proposed site's location next to an elementary school already has created a stir among some residents on social media, which Gosnold will address at a public meeting next week.

The move will allow the nonprofit organization to nearly double the number of beds it provides and introduce a new program currently available only at five other locations in the state.

"We'll open with 99 beds," said Richard Curcuru, president and CEO of Gosnold.

That is an increase of 49 from available beds at the Ter Huen location.

Of that total, 54 will be for detoxification services, compared with the current 35. The number of rehabilitation beds -- dedicated to intensive short-term inpatient services -- will remain at 15.

The expansion also will allow for access to 30 secure, inpatient beds on-Cape for adults with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

"We know 80 percent of those with addictions have a co-occurring mental disorder," Curcuru said. "We need to do a better job on co-occurring disorders."

The program will require dual licensing from the state Department of Public Health and Department of Mental Health.

The plan is on the fast track.

"If zoning goes as planned, we would expect to start construction in the fall and open just after the new year," Curcuru said. "There are only five other facilities like that in the state, and none are in Southeastern Massachusetts or on the Cape."

The property is owned by the Royal Health Group, and the nursing home that was there closed in 2014. Royal Health did not return a call seeking comment.

An investor, identified by Curcuru as Compass Development, has a purchase-and-sale agreement contingent on approval of a special-use permit in the residentially zoned area. Atlantic Properties, a commercial real estate company, has the 359 Jones Road property listed for $5.995 million; the listing says it was built in 1988 and is 46,000 square feet.

Gosnold intends to lease the building initially but ultimately to buy the location.

To date, the project has not been brought before town boards. Gosnold wants to first address any concerns the public may have.

The nonprofit organization expects to hear from some parents. "The location is next to the Morse Pond School," Curcuru said.

A public meeting has been set for 6 p.m. Thursday in the Hermann Foundation Meeting Room of Falmouth Public Library, 300 Main St.

Gosnold has a strong reputation and longtime presence in Falmouth, Curcuru said. "We have been here for 46 years, and we've had no problems in 46 years," he said.

Gosnold Inc. was established in 1972 as the Cape Cod Alcoholism Intervention and Rehabilitation Unit. A decade later, the organization changed its name to Gosnold Inc., with the intention of becoming a leader in substance abuse and mental health treatment. In addition to its treatment center at 200 Ter Huen Drive, Gosnold runs the Miller House program for men and Emerson House program for women, both in Falmouth; the 30-bed inpatient rehabilitation program Gosnold at Cataumet; and nine outpatient programs, two of them off-Cape and the rest across the Cape and Nantucket.

If the relocation is approved, the existing treatment center on Ter Huen Drive would be used for support services, and the Miller House and Emerson House would remain open.

-- Follow Christine Legere on Twitter: @ChrisLegereCCT.

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