Heywood's treatment center gets go-ahead in Petersham
Plans are moving forward for Heywood Healthcare of Gardner to open an in-patient facility providing detox and behavioral care services at the Sisters of Assumption property in Petersham.
Tuesday night, the Zoning Board of Appeals in Petersham voted unanimously to grant Heywood a special permit for the project, known as the Quabbin Retreat. Heywood can now pursue permitting, licensing, purchase and development of the property, according to a statement Wednesday from Heywood spokeswoman Marissa Torres.
The 21-acre property is located on North Main Street (Route 32).
The behavioral health and addiction service facility would address a soaring substance abuse problem and help ease a serious backlog in the number of patients seeking help in North Central Massachusetts, according to Heywood . Currently, Heywood Hospital ‒ the only provider of in-patient mental health services in that part of the state ‒ turns away more than 2,500 patients a year because of limited bed space, the Heywood statement said.
Additional facilities in Worcester, Concord and Greenfield must also turn away patients for the same reason, the statement added. Heywood also runs a day program for people needing behavioral care, the Partial Hospitalization Program, and it’s also full.
“As an organization, we are very excited to see this project moving forward,” Win Brown, president and CEO of Heywood Healthcare, said. “Although we still have much work ahead, this is the first major regulatory step in our journey toward providing critically needed services to our region.”
The Quabbin Retreat is projected to have 143 employees, 90 percent of whom will be in new positions, according to a February 2015 report prepared for the Petersham Zoning Board of Appeals by Kevin Flynn of Community Development Consulting . The 86-bedroom property dates to the 1920s, with later additions bringing the space to about 75,000 square feet. The property had long served as a nursing facility operated by the Sisters of Assumption for its members.
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