St. Cloud’s Withdrawal Program Closes Amid Low Client Numbers

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- A detox center in St. Cloud is closing.  Central Minnesota Mental Health Center has announced that on January 1st, it will be discontinuing its underutilized withdrawal management program.  They say the program had an average occupancy of only eight people a day in 2024, far below capacity, and at a loss of nearly $1 million for that year.

Officials in Ramsey County recently announced plans to close its Detoxification Center in St. Paul on January 1St.  That facility is licensed to serve 50 people at a time, but typically serves just 10 clients a day.

Central Minnesota Mental Health says an option in the future could be Ascension Recovery Services, which is currently building a residential treatment facility at 302 Fifth Avenue South in St. Cloud.

The closing of the Withdrawal Management Program is expected to impact 25 of the Mental Health Center's 231 employees.

In 2024, Central Minnesota Mental Health Center provided crisis, mental health, and chemical health services to more than 7,700 residents in Benton, Sherburne, Stearns, and Wright Counties.  They have facilities in Buffalo, Elk River, Monticello, St. Cloud, and Waite Park. The space occupied by the Withdrawal Management Program will be repurposed to support a growing demand for its residential crisis program.

CMMHC's 24-hour crisis number is 320-253-5555.