DITTMER, Mo. — Opening close, but not too close to the St. Louis metropolitan area, Sana Lake Recovery Center will begin taking members on Monday, July 29.
Founders Robert Riley II and Paul Melnuk say they are bringing a different level of treatment to Missouri.
“Sana Lake kind of came about because a couple of us got together and talked about really bringing some world-class treatment to the state of Missouri and the surrounding communities,” said Riley who has been in this line of work for seven years.
Riley explains that many people seeking treatment are lured out of state to picturesque places like California and Florida, but that staying at near family and friends is crucial to the recovery process.
"We're also close enough that family members can be involved with their loved one's treatment as well," Riley tells 5 On Your Side, "When they get sent out of state it's really hard for the family to be involved. And the family of someone recovering needs services too."
Sana Lake Recovery Center is a 30- to 45-minute drive from St. Louis. The center will offer detox programs, partial hospitalization, sober living and mental health care. It is opening at a crucial time for Missouri during an epidemic in opioid-related overdoses.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in their latest data from 2017, there were 952 overdose deaths involving opioids in Missouri. Those deaths came at a rate of 16.5 per 100,000 people exceeding the national rate of 14.6.
The institute also reports that in the same year, Missouri providers wrote 71.8 opioid prescriptions for every 100 persons, topping the national average of 58.7.
The opioid overdose issue is nothing new to Riley, who is playing a pivotal role in trying to stop it in Missouri. He is a member of the St. Louis County Emergency Opioid Task Force, created in June by the County Council. Riley also co-founded the Missouri Network for Opiate Reform and Recovery. He worked to pass laws to get the overdose-reversal drug Naloxone into the hands of anyone who needs them. Riley has helped in opening four sober living homes in the St. Louis area.
Melnuk is active in the community as well, as a long-term recovery member himself. He sold his primary business four years ago to purchase a treatment facility in Canada.
Melnuk and Riley hope the Sana Lake facility will promote not only physical healing but also mental healing.
“The stigma of addiction and mental health is killing people because people are afraid to ask for help,” Melnuk tells 5 On Your Side.
Riley adds, “Are we going to talk about them not going to the bar when they get out of treatment services here? Sure, but we’re also gonna talk to them just as much through our programming about taking care of their spirit, about taking care of their body, about mindfulness taking care of their mind,”