Room for growth: Recovery Centers of America moves outpatient care to St. Charles

Recovery Centers of America has moved its outpatient treatment center from South Elgin to a new larger space in St. Charles, which administrators said will allow the team to provide care to three times as many people battling addiction.

RCA is a health care network of substance abuse disorder treatment facilities on the East Coast and in the Midwest. RCA opened its first Kane County location, an inpatient center at 47W400 Silver Glen Road in Campton Township, in September 2020 at the site of the former Glenwood School for Boys.

The new outpatient center at 300 Cardinal Drive in St. Charles has been open since December 2023 and CEO Karen Wolownik Albert said the facility has treated more than 240 people struggling with addiction.

The center provides treatment for drug and alcohol abuse to adults 18 and older residing in Illinois. The 4,100-square-foot facility allows for three times as many hours of programs a week as the South Elgin location could support.

Outpatient services include family support, 12-step meetings, psychiatric services, RESCU for first responders, medication assisted treatment and SMART recovery meetings, many of which can be attended virtually. The center is open five days a week and provides evening sessions Monday through Thursday.

Director of Outpatient Services Kim Sutherland said the space will provide room for RCA to grow for many years and said they plan to add new services and support groups in the near future.

With more than enough space for services, Sutherland said their capacity to provide care now is limited only by the amount of staff. She said they intend to offer the extra space for community groups, sobriety meetings and training events.

“The sky is the limit because we have more space to do those things here, where in the previous building we did not,” Sutherland said.

Wolownik Albert said the inpatient and outpatient centers work in tandem to provide a full spectrum of support services. Patients with the most severe needs are treated at the inpatient center. The outpatient center provides continued treatment for many patients who have made progress in inpatient treatment, as well as members of the public whose needs are not so severe as to require inpatient treatment.

Different levels of outpatient care can be provided, including the partial hospitalization program or the intensive outpatient program, both of which can be attended in-person or virtually. The new facility allows for IOP services to increase from 27 to 45 hours of therapy sessions a week and for PHP services to expand from 25 to 75 hours a week.

In addition to having rooms big enough to sit 30 people comfortably, the center’s capacity for administering medication assisted treatment, opioid treatment and psychotherapy also has grown in the new facility with several rooms for individualized treatment.

The outpatient center employs eight therapists, two nurse practitioners, one psychiatric nurse practitioner and one psychiatrist, who can administer a wide range of care and medication. Outpatient practitioners work closely with those at the inpatient center for a seamless transition between services for patients on their way to recovery or in relapse.

“Because we offer a variety of services at both campuses, our patients’ needs get met at whatever level of care is appropriate for them at that time,” Sutherland said.

Wolownik Albert said they offer virtual support groups and flexible treatment schedules to remove the barriers that prevent people from getting the help they need.

“Everybody thinks if I have to do treatment, it has to be inpatient and for some people maybe it doesn’t,” Wolownik Albert said. “Some people can’t be out of their lives for 30 days. We’ll try to work with whatever limitations a patient has to try to give some level of service.”

Wolownik Albert said they are excited to announce that for the first time they soon will offer mental health treatment for patients who aren’t battling addiction. She said this will be their first step in treatment outside the realm of addiction and they hope to start administering mental heath services in the next few months.

Anyone who feels they need help can call 1-800-RECOVERY (800-732-6837) and schedule an assessment. While the center does not accept walk-ins without scheduling an assessment, Sutherland said the new facility never has a waitlist and they often can see people the same day that they call.