STERRETT, Ala. — Shelby County is set to get its first inpatient substance use and mental health treatment center.
Longleaf Recovery and Wellness plans to open Longleaf Lodge, a new residential facility aimed at expanding access to behavioral health care in Alabama. The organization currently operates outpatient centers in Baldwin County, Huntsville, and Birmingham. The Shelby County facility will add 50 residential beds and 10 detox beds.
For Colin Harris, founder and CEO of Longleaf Recovery and Wellness, the project is personal.
“Me and my family tried to navigate that world for me many years ago when I needed treatment here in Alabama, and the options were very limited,” Harris said. “Eventually, I had to go out of state.”
Harris said the new facility was designed to help address a shortage of high-quality residential treatment options — a challenge he said extends beyond Shelby County and affects much of the state.
According to the 2022–2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 19 percent of Alabamians age 12 and older were classified as needing substance use treatment. However, only about 5 percent received it.
Kim Boswell, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, said access — not willingness — is often the biggest barrier.
“Oftentimes when people are ready to go to treatment, they’re told they have to wait to get into a detox program,” Boswell said. “When people have to wait, sometimes they decide not to get treatment. Usually it’s a couple of weeks, and sometimes up to 30 days. It really depends on where they are in the state.”
State mental health leaders said limited inpatient capacity has contributed to long wait times and, in some cases, forced people to travel out of state or go without care. That long-standing gap helped drive the development of the new Shelby County facility.
Officials said Longleaf Lodge will integrate substance use treatment and mental health care under one roof, allowing providers to treat co-occurring conditions at the same time.
“To have a range of options that address both mental health and substance use together — in one setting — is pretty unique in Alabama,” Boswell said.
State leaders said the goal is to expand access to care so people can receive treatment closer to home, particularly during critical periods when medical supervision is needed for safe detox and stabilization.
“A lot of people need to be medically stabilized,” Harris said. “They need time supervised by medical professionals to make sure they detox in a safe environment.”
Longleaf Lodge is expected to open its residential treatment facility in early 2027.
According to the Alabama Department of Mental Health, 59 of Alabama’s 67 counties currently provide some form of substance use disorder services, though access to inpatient treatment remains limited in many areas.