Rain likely. High 56F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch..
Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Updated: October 1, 2022 @ 7:50 am
Jackie Rebman, OVP Health Recovery Center director of Inpatient Behavioral Health Services, right, and Medical Director Jonathan Hess, left, discuss the facility during an interview on Friday in South Point, Ohio.
OVP Health Recovery Center Medical Director Jonathan Hess discusses the facility during an interview on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in South Point, Ohio.
OVP Health Recovery Center Director of Inpatient Behavioral Services Jackie Rebman discusses the facility during an interview on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in South Point, Ohio.
OVP Health Recovery Center is pictured on Friday in South Point, Ohio.
Click here to stay informed and subscribe to Herald-Dispatch.
Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists.
Learn more about HD Media
Jackie Rebman, OVP Health Recovery Center director of Inpatient Behavioral Health Services, right, and Medical Director Jonathan Hess, left, discuss the facility during an interview on Friday in South Point, Ohio.
OVP Health Recovery Center Medical Director Jonathan Hess discusses the facility during an interview on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in South Point, Ohio.
OVP Health Recovery Center Director of Inpatient Behavioral Services Jackie Rebman discusses the facility during an interview on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in South Point, Ohio.
OVP Health Recovery Center is pictured on Friday in South Point, Ohio.
Editor’s note: This is an installment in a series of articles highlighting resources in the Huntington area dedicated to ending the opioid crisis as part of National Recovery Month. National Recovery Month was started in 1989 to bring awareness to the crisis and efforts to combat it.
SOUTH POINT, Ohio — OVP Health’s Recovery Center aims to provide robust treatment programs for people suffering from opioid dependence.
The program offers patient-centered treatment, ranging from medication-assisted treatment to counseling services.
Located at 335 Township Road 1025 in South Point, Ohio, the lockdown facility is helping to rebuild families by finding fixes to make sure the clients are successful in recovery.
With no stay at the center longer than 30 days, the staff has a tight time frame to make the impact clients need in the first weeks of what the staff hopes is a lifetime of recovery.
Jackie Rebman, director of Inpatient Behavioral Health Services for OVP Health Recovery Center, said the clients are humans who have a story far beyond anything imaginable. The gratefulness she receives from graduated clients — some who say they have never had anyone care about them — keeps her going, she said.
“You never get tired of caring for them and to see how they are,” she said. “I look at (them) and see how grateful they are, even for the little things. They become what fuels you every day.”
OVP Health established addiction medicine services after seeing the need in the community. It started with outpatient care, but grew with the recovery center out of need for a higher level of care.
OVP Health Recovery Center Medical Director Jonathan Hess said the facility opened in November 2020 during a time overdoses and drug use were on the rise and employees of Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital were seeking work after that facility’s closure.
The center, located at the former site of the River’s Bend Health Center, is licensed by Ohio to accommodate 23 inpatient beds for women, 23 inpatient beds for men and 16 beds for patients experiencing acute detox, or severe and active withdrawal symptoms and complications from substance abuse and more.
The facility also has received three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, or CARF, which holds facilities to the most rigorous standards in the industry.
The center underwent upgrades and renovations, including the installation of security cameras and fencing around the perimeter of the facility to monitor and limit access. It has a fully equipped commercial kitchen, dining rooms, recreation rooms, individual and group counseling rooms, and a chapel.
Beyond medical and nursing staff, the center employs counselors, case managers and patient care assistants, as well as security, kitchen, maintenance and housekeeping personnel.
OVP Health has 12 outpatient offices in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia, as far away as Grundy, Virginia. The inpatient staff will travel to any of those areas to get a patient into care, since transportation can be a barrier to treatment.
Patients can be admitted to the center by self-referral, but also by referral from community agencies.
The facility is licensed to offer residential treatment, integrated behavioral health and primary care. It provides all three levels of American Society of Addiction Medicine treatment.
During their stay, patients are connected with primary care and mental health providers, dentists and more, depending on the patient’s specific needs, to ensure they can live a healthy life.
The staff also helps clients address open children’s services cases and has liaisons who work to clear up court or custody issues.
“When you talk to most of (the patients), they all have a reason for why they want to get sober, and a lot of it’s around their children,” Rebman said. “So we work with family reunification and getting them on the path to be able to do that.”
The highest level of treatment allows the facility to offer medically monitored inpatient withdrawal management for patients who need enhanced medical or psychiatric care and constant monitoring by medical professionals.
A popular program, Hess said being able to provide that level of care is critical because some of the patients have been on long-term IV antibiotics and sitting in hospitals or nursing homes without receiving care for their disease, but taking up space for someone who might be less independent.
Most patients spend five to seven days detoxing before transitioning into the residential treatment portion of the program. Once detoxed, the mid-range level of care allows the facility to provide a safe and structured environment in which patients are taught skills required for a successful transition back into the community.
The third level provides a secure environment where patients can develop and practice early recovery skills to help them be more resilient as they transition back into the community.
After a patient has completed their 30-day stay, they are transitioned to a lower level of care centered around a personalized treatment plan. Hess said there are a lot of different pathways, but a patient is never released without resources because the aftercare is critical in their journey.
Hess said addiction science is about treating the whole person, not just the disease, which he believes OVP Health does well.
“Our counselors and our staff will help with housing, education and job finding,” he said. “I think that’s one of the biggest feedback that we get, is people feel like they get their life back.”
Hess said while working in the field can be draining on the employees’ mental health, it brings joy to see the immediate change and effect the staff’s work has in not only the patient’s life, but also their family’s.
As an example, Hess said one of his first patients came to him in January with a story about being able to provide their 8-year-old child a Christmas gift for the first time.
“I have three little kids, and it just hit me that we made a difference not only on the patient, but that child as well,” Hess said.
In looking to the future, Hess said OVP Health would love to expand with similar facilities throughout the communities it serves.
Rebman said the uncertainty brought by the looming 30th-day graduation can be just as daunting for clients as entering recovery.
“Addiction isn’t healed after 30 days, so for us, we would really love to have another avenue for recovery houses, where we house them and have some governance on their long-term stays,” she said. “I think that seems to me to be the biggest gap.”
Courtney Hessler is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch, primarily covering Marshall University. Follow her on Facebook.com/CHesslerHD and via Twitter @HesslerHD.
Editor’s note: This is an installment in a series of articles highlighting resources in the Huntington area dedicated to ending the opioid cri…
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.
Click Today’s Obituaries to view all of the listings.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Have the latest local news delivered every afternoon so you don’t miss out on updates.
Entertainment news from Herald-Dispatch
We’ll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen!
Your Herd from Herald-Dispatch Reach Manager
Sign up with
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Invalid password or account does not exist
Sign in with
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.
Secure & Encrypted
Secure transaction. Cancel anytime.
Thank you.
Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
A receipt was sent to your email.
