When choosing the best treatment option for someone struggling with addiction, there are lots of variables to consider: residential or outpatient? Location? Treatment philosophy? Recovery rate? Price? There’s another often-overlooked facet, though: size. Different drug and alcohol rehab facilities have different capacities, from less than a dozen to over one hundred patients at once. How can you tell which size of rehab facility best suits your needs?
Larger facilities have the capacity to hold up to (and sometimes more than) a hundred patients simultaneously. These centers often look very similar to hospitals or even college dormitories or campuses. They can have deeper medical staffs with entire detox wings. Size can be an asset. Group therapy is easy to organize with the massive client base. There is less chance of having to be on a waiting list, since there are more beds to fill. Food is generally served in cafeterias with buffet lines. Large facilities often have amenities on-site like a gym or lecture hall. This opens up a wide variety of possible activities for a patient in a center like this, and allows the center to schedule inspirational or motivational speakers to give speeches to the patients. Also, these centers can be more economical than facilities with fewer beds, although of course there are exceptions.
However, because of the sheer volume of patients at a large residential facility, it’s difficult to provide very focused treatment nor have a high staff to patient ratio. The setting might also seem uncomfortable to patients unused to small, dorm- or hospital-like rooms or an institutional way of living. Smaller facilities like The Ridge offer very few beds—only 14 in The Ridge’s case.
Addiction patients should not feel like they’re passing through an assembly line during treatment. Each patient at The Ridge receives focused attention. For more about us and our program click here.
Because the staff-to-patient ratio is much higher than in a larger center, patients receive intensely focused care and have special needs addressed. Often the facility is comfortably furnished like a lavish home. This level of familiarity and comfort with the setting helps patients not feel tense or afraid about treatment. Because the client base is so small and so concentrated, the patients often feel as if they’re living as a family. They form bonds of support and trust between each other that can be very helpful in recovery. Essentially, a patient at a smaller facility feels more like they personally matter and are receiving care for them as opposed to being a cog in a treatment machine.
Smaller drug and alcohol abuse rehab facilities may represent a higher investment, but The Ridge feels the quality of care makes that investment well worthwhile. The low census allows us to not only closely focus treatment, but also to provide recreation, exercise and chef-plated meals to restore nutrition. We feel this premium care approach helps to boost our recovery rates. Along with our Joint Commission accreditation, we are now certified by various licensing board assistance groups to treat licensed professionals, including doctors, dentists, nurses and lawyers.
