Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Calhoun County series.

When people ask Luke Savage why the company he works for – Landmark Recovery – decided to locate its 14th treatment facility in Battle Creek, he cites a need that is only expected to increase as people continue to struggle with addiction and mental health issues.
 
“Calhoun County has higher than average overdose death rates, placing it near the top counties in Michigan,” says Savage, Executive Director of Landmark Recovery of Western Michigan located at 393 E. Roosevelt Avenue in Battle Creek.
 
Out of Michigan’s 83 counties, Calhoun County had 148 drug overdose deaths placing it among the state’s top 15 counties, according to 2022 County Health Rankings. Wayne County topped the list with 2,335 drug overdose deaths.
 
In 2020 there were 2,759 deaths in Michigan attributed to drug overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
A room for patients at Landmark Recovery in Battle Creek.Landmark’s 29,639-square-foot treatment facility in Battle Creek officially opened on Monday at a site formerly occupied by Southwest Regional Rehabilitation Center. It is the largest single addiction treatment center in Battle Creek and one of the largest in western Michigan.
 
“Our goal in opening this facility is to help save lives and make addiction treatment more accessible to those who need it,” says Matt Boyle, CEO for Landmark Recovery, in a press release.
 
By 2025, Landmark plans to have an additional 35 treatment facilities throughout the United States.

“That’s two each month beginning in 2023,” Savage says. “The need is there so we are there to fill that need. One of the goals and directions we have is for people not to have to travel more than two hours for treatment.”
 
A group meeting room at Landmark Recovery in Battle Creek.Savage says in his opinion “the increased availability of opioids, fentanyl in general, in my experience has brought an influx of young people in for treatment largely tied to an increase in overdose deaths.”
 
More Americans ages 18 to 45 were killed by fentanyl than any other cause in 2020, including suicide, car accidents, and COVID-19, according to some reports.
 
The advocacy group, Families Against Fentanyl, says in a report that Michigan had a 348 percent increase in deaths from fentanyl between 2015 and 2021.
 
Savage says the top three addictions individuals seek treatment for at Landmark facilities are those involving alcohol, opiates, and methamphetamines.
 
“It fluctuates. I’ve seen ebbs and flows in the eight years I’ve been with Landmark,” Savage says. “I would say alcoholism is the most prevalent because alcohol is socially acceptable and readily available.”
 
An outdoor space for those getting rehab at Landmark Recovery in Battle Creek.In 2020 there was a 35% increase in alcohol-related deaths in the state, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. For Calhoun County, that increase was almost 100% with 44 alcohol-related deaths in 2020 compared to 24 in 2019.
 
Savage says the ratio of males to females in treatment can be anywhere from 60/40 to 70/30.
 
“It changes, but generally speaking, I think it’s fair to say that we have more males than females,” he says. “In my opinion typically, it can be harder for females to just stop their life and go to treatment because they have to figure out who will look after their children. It’s difficult for them to make the life change to go in and even when they get out there are less resources. There are more sober-living facilities for males than females. It’s difficult to find ones where they can live with their kids there. I hear this on a regular basis. But, our staff identifies resources and connects our patients with the tools they need to enter treatment unencumbered and to go on to live a life in recovery.”
 
The treatment plan
 
The new 60-bed treatment center is expected to help more than 720 patients find recovery from addiction on an annual basis. It also adds 60 full- and part-time jobs to Battle Creek while providing the community with evidence-based and individualized addiction recovery programs.
 
Patients will have access to an outdoor courtyard, gym, smart TVs, a walking trail, and a lake. Landmark Recovery of Western Michigan increases accessibility to high-quality addiction treatment for those with commercial insurance. The recovery center will provide medical detox, residential treatment, and outpatient services to those suffering from substance use disorders.

Landmark facilities also treat patients with dual diagnoses, meaning those with mental health issues and substance use addictions.
 
Savage says dual diagnoses is more difficult to make and requires more detailed treatment plans for how someone can deal with addiction and mental health issues, which is why it’s not offered more widely. He says the Battle Creek site is not a lockdown facility and uses verbal de-escalation, but will use other referral partners in the community, if there is a need.
 
“Having those partnerships and referral services is very important,” he says. “Different places are qualified to do different things. Maybe we’ve dealt with an acuity that another center has not been able to do. Maybe there’s a case where we would not be the most appropriate place. It’s good to have appropriate places to refer people to.”
 
A majority of referrals come via Google when someone is searching for a treatment facility near them. Savage says the majority of Landmark’s patients come in of their own volition and that “nobody is court-ordered here and nobody is being held here. People sometimes come in to get their family off their back or to comply with work-ordered treatment. They all have some sort of internal motivation.”
 
The treatment center payment model is self-pay through private insurers with the average stay being between 35 and 45 days depending on what an individuals’ insurance is able to cover.
 
Savage says Landmark uses a holistic approach which means, “we’re not just throwing out blanket recommendations and that’s what everybody gets. We’re working with the patient on a treatment plan and the stay is longer. We get you through detox, so you can focus on therapy. Here they get at least 35 days. We get them in for detox and on medications. We definitely want to get people through the painful and dangerous detox process. Patients here see an individual therapist at least two times a week. They go to groups with other patients supervised by all Master’s-level clinicians and that happens from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.”
 
Trauma-based groups and relapse prevention groups are among the groups available to patients.
 
The first step in the treatment process is an assessment based on doctors’ orders to get through a detox program.
 
“After they get out of detox, they spend the bulk of their time in a residential level of care. That will be when they’re feeling a little bit better and can focus on therapy that looks at if there is anything they need to change about what they’re processing internally and figuring out the internal motivations and going to group therapy. They get the most out of group therapy because they are realizing that their experiences are not limited to themselves which takes away the shame and guilt.”
 
The group therapy may involve role-playing and involve scenarios such as one in which a friend tells you they’ve got this great new bag of heroin and how you’re going to deal with it, Savage says. In the case of clients who have trauma, he says it may be asking questions about what it feels like to deal with that and sometimes talking about what triggers their trauma.
 
“We want them to get through those triggers here so they can get through it in a controlled environment. Everyone in the group is sharing their own experiences,” Savage says. “The substances of choice and the experiences are often different, but there are common themes that they all have something going on inside of them or in their life that makes them feel like using or drinking is the only thing that will work. We’re not just taking them away from drugs and alcohol. We’re getting them out of that environment and asking them to let us make some decisions for them and deal with their employer, probation officer or family so that they can focus on their treatment and recovery with the least amount of stress going on.”
 
In addition to group therapy, there is some evening programming that may feature an individual from the community in recovery who comes in to talk about their own experiences.
 
“We utilize smart recovery in our groups and use expressive therapy. We also focus on mindfulness and meditation,” Savage says. “The treatment planning is very individualized. We provide a full continuum of care that for us looks at what each patient’s needs are.”
 
About Landmark Recovery: Landmark Recovery, founded in 2016, is an evidence-based addiction recovery organization offering passionate, individualized treatment including detox, residential, intensive outpatient, and partial hospitalization. Landmark serves communities in Colorado, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Nevada, Virginia and Tennessee along with its sister company, Praxis by Landmark Recovery, which serves the Medicaid population. The Landmark of Louisville facility was named the No. 1 Addiction Treatment Center in Kentucky by Newsweek for 2021 and 2022. For more information www.landmarkrecovery.com or call 866-504-8545.