See inside new Keystone Retreat Behavioral Health Center in Ephrata [photos] | Health

Keystone Retreat Behavioral Health Center has opened on the Ephrata site once owned by the now-defunct addiction and mental health facility Retreat.

The drug and alcohol treatment center, at 1170 S. State St., celebrated its opening Wednesday with an event hosted by the Northern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce offering tours and networking opportunities. Keystone Retreat Behavioral Health is owned and operated by Sunshine Behavioral Health, based in Denver, Colorado.

Keystone Retreat focuses on substance abuse – alcohol, drugs and co-occurring disorders – treatment and recovery for people ages 18 through 65. The residential treatment program can be a 30-, 60- or 90-day program with 24-hour nursing or medical care. The onsite detox area has 24-hour care.

“This is a wonderful area. We took a look at the existing facility and decided we could restore what was there. We want to reopen and serve the community,” said Chad Daugherty, Sunshine Behavioral Health CEO. “At Sunshine we put the individual first. Our program is centered on providing each client with the treatment plan they need, and treatment is delivered with compassion, dignity and respect.”

Sunshine Behavioral Health CFO Brandon Turner declined to disclose the cost of the renovations.

The 14-acre site was previously owned by the now defunct Retreat, a multistate for-profit addiction and mental health treatment company, that was shuttered after the suicides of its of its founder and CEO Peter Schorr and chief administrative officer Scott Korogodsky in June 2024.

“The opening of Keystone Retreat is an important milestone for the community, bringing renewed treatment resources and economic activity to the region following a year of transition and uncertainty,” said Liz Ackerman, executive director Northern Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce.

The center will eventually have 120 beds, but initially it has 39 beds.

“We are doing a phased rollout. For the first phase, we did a complete renovation of 39 beds, common areas, the gym, cafeteria and clinical areas in 89 days,” said Jordan Hase, Sunshine Behavioral Health director of business development.

As phase one opened, work is continuing on phase two, which Hase estimates to open in March. Hase said Keystone Retreat currently has about 35 staff members, many of whom worked at the facility when it was Retreat. As the second and third phases of the renovation are completed, additional staff will be hired to maintain the same patient-staff ratio, Hase said.

Prior to the renovation, the patient rooms had three beds and a shared bath; they are now semi-private rooms with two beds along with the shared bath. There’s also a lounge area where patients can gather. The gym and clinical areas are each housed in separate buildings. The gym can be used for group games such as volleyball or basketball and it also features a weight/fitness area on the second level.

The clinical building houses clinical staff, which include addiction counselors, therapists and group facilitators. Keystone Retreat also offers yoga, meditation, art therapy and music therapy.

“We’re looking to start something beautiful here,” said group facilitator Julie Davis, who also will provide sound/music therapy. “Some of the benefits of music therapy/sound meditation include relaxation and calmness, improved focus and clarity and emotional balance and well-being.”

The lower level of the main building houses a reception area and a recreation space. It also features an architectural rendering from 1965 on a stone wall that depicts the facility when it was the Foodergong Lodge.

“We found that rendering during our renovation and wanted to hang it in the lobby to pay tribute to the building’s heritage,” said Manuel Perez, Keystone Retreat vice president of operations.

The circular area fronted with windows on the second level that serves as Keystone Retreat’s cafeteria had been Foodergong Lodge’s restaurant. During the Wednesday event and following chamber mixer, a few people mentioned that they had dined or had relatives who had worked at the Foodergong.