Albuquerque’s only specialized eating disorder treatment center is moving into a larger space this spring in order to offer more overnight services to the patients who need treatment most.
The Eating Disorders Treatment Center is moving from its current 6,500-square-foot space on Juan Tabo to a new two-story office building near the corner of Tramway and Indian School NE. The new space nearly doubles the treatment center’s footprint, and according to Bob Keys, executive director and co-founder of the facility, gives the center room to add a commercial kitchen and a wing of residential rooms.
Keys said this will allow the facility to accommodate adult and adolescent patients who require residential care to deal with ailments like anorexia, bulimia and binge eating. In the past, the facility has needed to transfer those patients to centers in nearby states.
Keys said the treatment center has had to transfer between 20 and 30 patients out of state each year due to not having residential facilities at its Juan Tabo location, which be disruptive for families of patients.
“What we want to do is provide an opportunity for the people of New Mexico to have that level of care here,” Keys said.
Keys worked with Bo Galles, associate broker with Colliers International, and Brent Franken, vice president of Franken Construction. Franken and his partners purchased the building through a separate company, and sunk around $500,000 into renovating the building and adding a commercial kitchen and residential space. The new center is expected to open to patients this spring.
“It was more than just a business opportunity, it was an opportunity to really help the community,” Franken said.
The new building will have eight rooms for residential patients, along with a commercial kitchen and dining area for patients that allow the center to expand its nutritional health program. Keys said the additional space will allow the center to add additional staff and cut into its patient waiting list
“The additional capacity will allow us to move roughly 70 people into care right away,” Keys said.
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