RISE Welness Center is a new presence in Ketchikan offering a comprehensive program for treating addiction. They offer opioid treatment, outpatient services, recovery support, and specialized medication-assisted treatment options. The wellness center occupies the building that formerly housed the Gateway Center for Human Services, a former drug abuse and addiction facility operated by the Anchorage-based behavioral health provider Akeela. Akeela abruptly pulled their services from Ketchikan last year, leaving a large gap in resources to treat the city’s high rates of drug abuse and overdoses.
RISE is a collaboration between the Ketchikan Indian Community, the Ketchikan Tribal Business Corporation, and the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). The wellness center opened on January 13. Dr. Corey Cox, SEARHC’s Clinical Director of Addiction Services, joined KRBD’s Jack Darrell to talk about the RISE Wellness Center, what the Comprehensive Addiction Treatment program is, and how people struggling with addiction can take advantage of their services.
