A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday to celebrate the opening of the Medically Assisted Withdrawal Treatment (MAT) Center in San Luis Obispo.
It's the County of San Luis Obispo's first detox facility.
The MAT Center is located at 34 Prado Road on the campus of CAPSLO's 40 Prado Homeless Services Center.
CAPSLO worked with several entities in the county to bring the roughly $1.5 million facility to the Central Coast.
The 8-10 bed in-patient facility will treat patients on a 30-90 day, case-by-case basis.
Organizers say, with the large homeless population locally, this project has been needed for decades.
"It is huge," said Star Graber of the San Luis Obispo County Drug and Alcohol Services Behavioral Health Department. "I've been in the business about 35 years, and it is the most common, high priority for the county. We're using medications and peer support and counseling, all right here in our county."
The MAT will begin to accept patients in the next couple of months after an agreement with the company that will provide care at the facility is reached.
