ETTA — Mississippi’s leading drug and alcohol treatment facility has completed its latest expansion, adding 24 new beds in a specialized new medical detox unit.

Oxford Treatment Center’s residential campus at Etta, set on 110 acres within the Holly Springs National Forest in northeastern Lafayette County, has been undergoing extensive upgrades and expansions over the past year. The latest addition, a two-story facility adjacent to the main lodge, dedicates the entire second floor to the medical detox program, with meeting rooms and therapist offices on the lower floor.

Michael Cartwright, CEO of American Addiction Centers, told local staff recently that the transformation of the campus fulfills the vision he shared with the center’s co-founders. AAC acquired Oxford Treatment Center in 2015 from Tom Fowlkes, MD, former Chief Medical Officer and Billy Young, who remains CEO.

“You should be very proud of what you’ve built here,” Cartwright said, addressing some 50 staff members as they gathered in the new building for the first time.

“The team you have here is second-to-none — from your professionalism to your clinical excellence, to truly caring about each person who comes here for help overcoming addiction.”

“At AAC, our goal has been to give you all the tools and facilities you need, so that you can focus on providing outstanding patient care. It’s very rewarding to see that accomplished.”

Cartwright, himself a recovering addict and former clinician, is based at AAC’s corporate office outside of Nashville, Tenn., and visits Oxford Treatment Center frequently.

AAC now has more than 30 locations nationwide. Its vision is to advance addiction treatment through standardized, research-based methods, with the ultimate goal of helping more people achieve long-term recovery.

At Oxford Treatment Center, programs and facilities continue to grow. Patients come for help from all areas of the country. The center’s new Oxford Outpatient Office off Highway 7 South is slated for completion this summer, along with four adjacent sober living homes. That new outpatient campus will provide support, structure and accountability for people during the critical transition between residential treatment and their return to everyday life.

At the Etta campus, two new cabins opened in fall 2016, bringing the residential program’s total capacity to 88 patients. The center’s medical detox program already had a self-contained 12-bed facility where patients received care from in-house psychiatrists and 24/7 nursing staff. The new building now brings the total number of detox beds to 36, with a nurses station, physician offices and assessment rooms located along the same hall as the semi-private detox bedrooms.

Oxford Treatment Center provides medical detox for substances including alcohol, opiods (OxyContin, Vicodin, Fentanyl, heroin) and benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium). The medical program is directed by psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Pannel, who is board certified in addiction medicine.

This year’s transformation of the Etta campus has also included a second lakeside pavilion, the paving of gravel roads, and extensive landscaping including a new 12-Step Walk. A covered riding arena for the center’s equine therapy program is also slated for construction this year. Visit Oxford Treatment Center’s website and Facebook page to follow the progress.

To learn more or to get help overcoming a substance abuse problem, contact Daniel Jensen at (662) 679-0639.