Upper Chesapeake, Father Martin's Join Forces for Outpatient Program

Two household names in Harford County health care are joining together to help addicts and alcoholics.

Upper Chesapeake and Father Martin’s Ashley are teaming up to provide an intensive outpatient program called “Ashley Outpatient Treatment Center.”

Father Martin’s Ashley, which runs an inpatient facility for addiction disorders in Havre de Grace, will operate the program.

Ashley Outpatient Treatment Center will open this summer in space leased at the Klein Ambulatory Care Center in Bel Air, according to a statement from Father Martin’s.

The outpatient program will “offer a full range of treatment options to reverse our region’s alarming addiction trends,” Father Martin’s Ashley President/CEO Fr. Mark Hushen said.

The partnership is fitting, as Upper Chesapeake officials say drug and alcohol use are involved in many visits to the medical center already.

“We’ve found that drug and alcohol use is a contributing factor for many patients’ repeat medical and emergency department visits,” President/CEO of University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health Lyle Sheldon said.

• Harford Sheriff Gives Heroin Overdose Data, Asks for Help

In addition, the partnership was “a natural fit” as Upper Chesapeake and Father Martin’s Ashley share an “integrated approach to treating the whole person—mind, body and spirit,” said Bernadette Solounias, M.D., senior vice president of treatment services and medical director of Father Martin’s Ashley.

The Ashley Outpatient Treatment Center will accommodate several hundred people annually with the potential to expand based on community needs, according to Solounias.

“The center in Bel Air is the first location,” Solounias said. “We will maintain an open dialogue about the potential for additional program locations in the future as we continue to assess utilization and monitor population needs.”

• HdG Treatment Center Gets $13 Million Gift
• Upper Chesapeake, University of Maryland Complete Merger
• Father Martin’s Ashley Looks to Expand

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