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Aspen’s Right Door plans expansion

John ColsonThe Aspen TimesAspen CO, Colorado

ASPEN Pitkin Countys only alcohol and drug rehabilitation service, The Right Door in Aspen, is close to spawning similar facilities in neighboring Garfield and Eagle counties, as part of the organizations effort to expand its services.At the same time, the 5-year-old organization is undergoing some internal changes, as Executive Director Brad Osborn prepares to assume the title of CEO overseeing operations in all three counties.Osborn, in an interview last week, said The Right Doors board of directors, which oversees the organizations operations on a budget that stood at $444,000 in 2007 (the last year for which IRS records are available), is expected to meet later this month to finalize the plans. That is when Osborn believes he will be confirmed in the CEO position.The Right Door, which is located in the Schultz Health & Human Services Building near Aspen Valley Hospital, opened in 2003 with 17 patients. Last year it served more than 800.Osborn told The Aspen Times last November that the Pitkin County organization may have reached its maximum capacity, and that expansion into nearby counties was viewed as a critical move.Because the changes are still being worked out, there is not a lot of detail available about what the new arrangement will mean in terms of budgetary impacts on the counties involved, he said.Osborn said Eagle County will reimburse The Right Door for the time he spends setting up the Eagle County office, which is being named The Last Call. An executive director for the Eagle County operation has been hired.The Garfield County operation, which has been dubbed Storm King Case Management, will involve the creation of two offices, one in Glenwood Springs and the other in Rifle. He said free office space in Glenwood Springs is already identified, but that a Rifle location has yet to be nailed down.He said a $240,000 grant from Garfield County will pay the operating costs of the two new offices. The grant is to be disbursed incrementally, with six-month reviews to determine how the program is functioning.Were pretty sure we have the funding to do it for three years, Osborn said of the Garfield County offices, which he expects to outstrip the Pitkin County operations quickly due to the need for services among the workforce of the oil and gas industry.If named CEO, Osborn said he will no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations of any single office, but will oversee the operations of all three locations.At the same time, he said, he will continue working on what he called a case management model that can be used to establish similar alcohol and drug rehabilitation services in other areas, although he stressed that further expansion is not likely anytime soon.jcolson@aspentimes.com

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