Leaders welcome planned treatment facility
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BRANDYWINE -- Community leaders in the Pendleton County area say the opening of a treatment facility in the former U.S. Navy base will be a welcome addition to the local economy.
Highlands at Sugar Grove, located halfway between Sugar Grove and Brandywine, will be a 95-bed 28-day substance abuse treatment facility. When it opens, Pendleton County could expect about 200 "well-paying" jobs and a positive ancillary impact on local business and services, Cynthia Persily, chief executive officer of Highland Hospital, said at a press conference recently.
The county lost economic, educational and emergency rescue benefits from the more than 300 sailors, workers and families connected to the former U.S. Navy base when it closed in 2015.
Services at Highlands at Sugar Grove will include psychiatric evaluations and treatment, family therapy, individual therapy, group therapy, 12-step programs and case management. Through partnerships with other local health care providers, medical care for minor acute or chronic illness and other services will be provided.
Social issues such as housing instability, domestic violence, legal problems and others will be managed by social workers and case managers in conjunction with community partners across the state.
Additional services such as employment training, financial management and parenting programs will be offered as the program matures, Persily explained.
Pendleton County Commission member Gene McConnell anticipates the new facility will be a great benefit to the community.
"I see it as all positive. There may be more children at Brandywine Elementary School as the group brings in more people from outside. Each (school) receives an educational fee per student from the state, which will help the school that lost so many Navy children," McConnell said.
He also said he anticipates some ancillary business development.
"I have no idea what -- it depends on what services are required -- maybe food providers. People are going to be needing housing, which will spur real estate development in the area. I see it as all positive," McConnell added.
Board of Education member Betty Kimble, owner of Fox's Pizza Den, agreed that outside personnel would "up the number of children at BES, but also would help with increasing the members in community organizations, such as the Lions Club, Ruritan Club, Boy and Girl Scouts and 4-H clubs. Their memberships are dwindling because of the loss of the base and the loss of young people who have to go elsewhere to find work."
Kimble said she is thrilled with the possibility of 200 jobs for the county.
"It will be a great benefit to me and the other Brandywine businesses. I was sad to see the base close and no activity at such a beautiful facility -- it will be good to see it open and occupied again. I'm so happy for that!" Kimble said.
Brandywine General Store owner Mark Lambert said that the Highlands at Sugar Grove facility will be "great for business."
"We need something in this area, because we have lost a lot of population due to the base closing. Our young people and other workers have to go elsewhere to get work," said Lambert, who has three teenage sons.
Roy Bowers, owner of Bowers Garage, said Highlands would definitely create jobs so people don't have to cross the mountain to find work in Virginia, but it also would help with a current lack of emergency rescue and fire personnel. The Navy base, with fully staffed fire and rescue squads, helped the county during emergency situations.
"There will be no fire department there, but I've already approached Highlands, and they have agreed to allow its personnel to train and help during emergencies. The South Fork Fire Department and emergency squads need this desperately," Bowers said.
Debbie Horst, business owner and local real estate developer, said Highlands would be good for the economy by hiring local people.
"That will trickle down to business in Brandywine and create more jobs. My store is currently closed, but might reopen with the prospect of more business. Hopefully it will also help with rentals and sale property," Horst said.
The Rev. Wesley Kimble of First Baptist Church in Brandywine said the Highlands program is an opportunity for Christians to give hope to those in treatment.
"As Christians we believe all people are created by God in His image and have equal worth. Our biggest problem is sin, and sin leads to all kinds of brokenness. We see this in the drug crisis. I believe the lasting hope for these patients is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our church really wants to do anything we can to assist those in any way we can. We've heard of the severity of the opioid/drug crisis and (I) am excited to hear the (former) base is being repurposed to help," Kimble said.
The facility is scheduled to open July 1. Job applications will be available online at highland@sugargrove.com by mid-April. Jobs range from clinicians, housekeepers, dieticians and groundskeepers complete with health care insurance and other benefits. Its first onsite job fair is scheduled May 7 and 8.