I am pleased to report that ARS has signed a lease on a new Intensive Outpatient Office to be located at 1234 Travis Blvd. This is right across the street from 1225 Travis Blvd., the location of one our current Outpatient offices.
The new space will include 16 offices, five group rooms (four smaller, one larger), a reception area, and a large staff break/lunch room. The new facility also allows us to create a secure outdoor patio space where both patients and staff can relax outside the view of passersby's.
As ARS has grown, we have outgrown our spaces for Outpatient treatment. Counselors have had to share office spaces. This has challenged our counselors to "grow in grace." Despite the goodness of our staff, sometimes the inadequate space has resulted in frustration from time to time.
A number of our staff have been appealing to ARS leadership to find new space. Our Director of Facilities and Development, Chris Audette has been diligently looking for a new space for a year. We have considered three different spaces in that time. We finally found a space that is almost ideal.
The ARS Board of Directors approved the leasing of the new facility at its November 14 Board meeting. They approved the contract for Tenant Improvements. And they approved the formal relocation of our treatment license to the new address.
ARS leadership completed the application for a transfer of our treatment license and submitted it to DHCS for approval. Note: DHCS requires the application to be submitted 45 days in advance of the transfer.
We are hopeful that we will be fully moved into the new space by February 1, 2024. Depending on how expeditious DHCS proves to be in completing the paperwork, we may be partially moved in by as early as January 2, 2024.
The new facility will allow us to consolidate 1225 Travis Blvd. and 717 Missouri St. into one location. This means all of our Outpatient counselors will share a common space and be able to provide additional support for one another.
We will let go of the lease on 1225 Travis Blvd. and 717 Missouri St. We will retain 710 Missouri St. for Facilities and perhaps our SLE and ECM Departments. This means that both the SLE staff and the ECM staff will be able to expand into new offices as well.
We are confident that the new facility will enhance the quality of the care we are able to provide the people we serve. We also know that our Outpatient team will finally get the space they have patiently waited for for so long.