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Decatur's $30 million drug treatment campus opening in 2019

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) - The first two facilities for a central Illinois city's $30 million drug treatment campus are on pace to open during the coming year.

Construction is underway in Decatur on the 31,000-square-foot detox and residential building and the 17,000-square-foot transitional housing facility, the Herald and Review reported .

The 17-acre Community Care Campus is meant to provide an all-hands-on-deck approach to the rising epidemic of drug addiction and opioid abuse in Macon County.

It is being funded by the private foundation of former Macon County Sheriff Howard Buffett, the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffet. He served as county sheriff until Nov. 30 .

The Community Care Campus project is the largest of numerous financial contributions that Buffett has given the Decatur community in recent years.

"We're addressing a challenge, and it is a challenge, that if left to run its own course, it's going to take more and more lives in Macon County," Buffett said at the time of the donation.

The project will include eight beds for detox and 48 residential beds, as well as 64 beds in the dorm-style transitional housing. It will also include amenities such as an exercise facility, with a half-court basketball court and fitness center.

Crossing Healthcare is the federally qualified health care clinic that will own and operate the campus. Crossing Healthcare CEO Tanya Andricks said that barring any hindrances, the transitional housing facility should be open by summer and the residential rehab facility should be functioning by the fall, barring any hindrances.

"Transitional housing and residential rehab are the first key components," Andricks said. "They will be available first."

The state of Illinois had 1,946 opioid overdose fatalities in 2016. Overall, opioid overdose deaths increased 82 percent between 2013 and 2016, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

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Information from: Herald & Review, http://www.herald-review.com

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