Freeholders approve contract to continue treatment at Post House facility

MOUNT HOLLY — Ensuring critical mental health and addiction services remain accessible during the ongoing health crisis, the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders approved a contract renewal with Maryville Inc. to continue services at the Post House treatment center in Pemberton Township.

The board voted unanimously at its July 8 meeting to approve the lease and contract with Maryville to continue detoxification and residential treatment operations at the county-owned facility on Pemberton-Browns Mills Road.

“We cannot forget that COVID-19 isn’t the only health crisis impacting our state and nation,” said Freeholder Director Felicia Hopson. “If anything, the pandemic has only exacerbated the challenges residents and their families face due to substance use disorder and other mental health conditions. We must not abandon them during this critical time.”

Maryville has provided treatment services at the Post House facility since 2018. The 54-bed facility offers services for male patients struggling with substance abuse and other co-occurring disorder.

Under the one-year contract and lease, Maryville will continue to provide both residential treatment and detoxification services at the county-owned site, which is one of New Jersey’s  longest-operating drug treatment centers and one of the area’s only providers of detoxification and in-patient substance abuse treatment.

The center was originally founded in 1968 in two rooms in a home on High Street in Mount Holly before it was moved into the current building in Pemberton Township. The county’s Department of Human Services operated the treatment program there until 2010 when the freeholders began contracting with service providers.

The county first contracted with Maryville under a two-year agreement with a two one-year options for renewal. Last year the state and county approved increasing the facility’s beds from 48 to 54 beds.

“Addictive disease remains a public health crisis, now exasperated by the COVID-19 crisis.  Through partnerships like this one, we can help save lives and prepare people to re-engage as successful members of our communities,” said Maryville CEO Kendria McWilliams.

Freeholder Director Hopson said the pandemic has made demand for services all the more important due to the pressures placed on individuals and families from the disease, isolation and physical distancing and in some cases the loss of employment or the adjustment of working from home.

Recent surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Census Bureau found that about 33% of New Jersey respondents reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety disorder or depressive disorder during the first week of July, ranking the state in the

“These are stressful times for all of us. But for those struggling with substance use disorder, the pandemic is practically a perfect storm,” Shirla Simpson, director of the county Department of Human Services. “I applaud the freeholders for continuing their commitment to ensuring that help and support remains available.”

In addition to Post House, Maryville operates a 76 bed detoxification and residential treatment center in Williamstown for both men and women and three outpatient treatment locations, serving more than 6,500 patients a year.

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