Brien Center Suspends Daily Outpatient Addiction Treatment Program

A daily outpatient treatment program for recovering addicts at the Brien Center in North Adams has been suspended due to low enrollment.

The Berkshire Eagle reports in place of the Day Treatment program, the agency is pledging to design new programs tailored to the needs of the Northern Berkshire recovery community.

The addiction day treatment program was formerly operated, for two years, by the Brien Center under the Neighborhood for Health at Berkshire Medical Center's North Adams Campus.

After the grant funding ran out, the Brien Center decided to continue the program at its own location on American Legion Drive for the past year before deciding to suspend it.

The day treatment program was aimed at people still new to recovery but no longer in a residential treatment setting — such as those leaving the McGee Recovery Center or Clinical Stabilization Services Unit operated by Berkshire Health Systems.

But the enrollment was insufficient.

Instead, the nonprofit will explore alternatives in the coming weeks, such as holding group sessions at different times in the day and for different subsets of the community.

The Brien Center will continue to host an addiction day treatment program in Pittsfield, which runs the full day from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and has "pretty robust" regular attendance.

The North Adams location will also continue to offer a number of addiction treatment services, such as prescribing medication-assisted treatment, individual therapy, and groups for those receiving suboxone treatment.