Westhampton Beach Treatment Center Granted Additional Beds To Fight Heroin Epidemic

An ongoing expansion project will add an additional 10 beds to a Westhampton Beach addiction treatment center trying to combat the growing heroin problem on Long Island.

In a recent press release, the State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, or OASAS, announced that it has approved the Seafield Center to temporarily add six beds to the 90-bed Main Street facility while the agency continues to review an application that seeks to add 10 permanent beds to the facility.

This week, the chief executive officer of Seafield, Mark Epley—who is also the mayor of Southampton Village—explained that in June 2014 the center purchased the former Inn on Main bed and breakfast for $1.4 million. Once renovations on the building are complete, which are slated to be finished this summer, the company will be able to move some of its administrative staff out of the Main Street rehab building, freeing up space for up to 10 more patient beds.

In the meantime, Seafield was contacted last week by OASAS, requesting that the rehab facility do what it could to increase its number of beds as quickly as possible, offering a temporary permit to allow six additional, temporary beds.

“We recognize that individuals seeking inpatient treatment for substance abuse outnumber the current bed availability and this emergency authorization will provide a number of people with the much needed help they are searching for,” Mr. Epley said. “OASAS’s emergency authorization will save someone’s life.”

According to a release, in 2015 there were 103 fatal heroin overdoses in Suffolk County, and 109 the year before. Between 2010 and 2014, treatment for opioid addictions, like heroin, increased by 20 percent. This week, Mr. Epley confirmed that Seafield maintains a 20-30 person waiting list every day.

Eventually, Seafield would like to have 100 permanent beds, with Mr. Epley saying he is confident the application—which was filed with the state only last week—will be approved. He added that converting offices at Seafield into patient rooms has been a relatively easy transition, saying they served as private rooms when the building used to be a nursing home. That means they were already equipped with bathrooms.

Seafield is adding the additional temporary beds as quickly as possible, for a total of 96 for the next few months. Renovations for the expansion are slated to be finished mid-summer, at which time Mr. Epley said all 10 beds will be in place.