As we get closer to opening, all of us are getting
even more excited that, in a very short time, we will
be able to start helping people to safely and sanely
withdraw from harmful drugs or alcohol.
While we wanted to be open a month ago, we keep
being told by people familiar with all of the
regulations and requirements for medical facilities
that must be satisfied that we are actually far ahead
of the schedule that they expected.
Because many of you may not be familiar with all the
barriers that must be overcome, we thought that it
might be helpful to share with you some of the steps
in our program to open our detox center.
First, you have to find a property that complies with
the applicable zoning rules. The various realtors we
consulted told us that we would need to find a
property that was currently being used for medical
purposes. This would limit us to a busy commercial
area and not a quiet, peaceful area—which we
wanted.
We disagreed with the realtors, did our own search
and located a property that is on 3.25 acres in a
quiet neighborhood and is zoned for our use. An
added bonus is that there is a 5,000 square foot
building on the property.
Next, we had to work with an architect to make the
innumerable changes to our property required by our
licensing agencies. Once the plans were done, we
chose a contractor who, in validation of our choice,
never sees a problem that he can’t solve—generally
without even telling us there is a problem until he has
the solution. Our contractor submitted our permit to
the building department.
The permit seemed to take forever, but
subcontractors working on our project say that we
obtained our permit much faster than most.
We started construction and are now nearing
completion—at least two months ahead of the
estimates made by other contractors we
interviewed.
In order to get our final licenses to operate, we need
a Medical Director, a Registered Nurse, four Licensed
Practical Nurses and five detox counselors all of
whom agree with our detox philosophy. This took
some time but the personnel are identified and will be
on board shortly. (Of course, if you know qualified
people who are interested in helping people please let
us know. We would love to speak with them for
either this facility or the next ones that we open.)
Because we are preparing and serving three meals a
day we have to set up the kitchen with a cook
licensed by the State of Florida, that will meet the
strict and voluminous requirements of the Health
Department. Then we have to acquire furnishings for
all of the patient and common rooms—the same
things that you need to do to start a hotel or motel.
The final step after we complete our renovations is
to obtain the various inspections and licenses from
the County and the State. Once we are open we will
get an inspection by the Commission on Accreditation
of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), the same agency
that certifies Narconon, and become certified. All of
these inspections will allow us to help our patients
get reimbursed by their insurance company and/or for
us to accept direct payment of insurance.
If you have any questions, please email me. It is a
very interesting comment on our society when one
sees close up all the barriers that have to be
overcome in order to free people from harmful drugs.
