McLean Hospital Donates Defibrillators to Town of Ashburnham

On June 22, 2018, McLean Hospital donated defibrillators to the Ashburnham, Massachusetts, fire and police departments. The donations were in recognition of the town’s support of McLean Hospital during the many years that McLean’s Addiction Treatment Center at Naukeag was based in Ashburnham. The program was recently relocated to a larger facility in Petersham, Massachusetts, to accommodate increased demand for robust treatment programs for substance use disorders, including those complicated by psychiatric illness.

“We are thankful for the tremendous support Ashburnham has given us throughout the years,” said McLean Hospital’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michele L. Gougeon, MSS, MSc. “While we will miss being in Ashburnham, we are glad that we were able to relocate the Naukeag program to a nearby town in a larger building, ensuring that we can continue to provide accessible substance use care for patients in this region.”

Housed at Heywood Hospital’s Quabbin Retreat, a smoke-free campus that offers up-to-date facilities, McLean’s Naukeag addiction treatment program is part of a comprehensive project to bring expanded behavioral health services to Central and Western Massachusetts. The program had been operating in Ashburnham since 1997. With the move, the program has expanded to 30 beds, which will enable a larger staff to assist more individuals in the region in need of treatment.

Naukeag is an insurance-based residential and partial hospital (day) treatment program that features skilled staff providing care for individuals living with substance use disorders, including treatment for the most common complicating factors, such as depression and anxiety. Designed for patients who have gone through detoxification and would benefit from additional treatment in a structured environment, each patient at Naukeag receives an individualized treatment plan to help them learn to manage the stress of an active life without returning to drug and alcohol dependence. To learn more about Naukeag or to make a referral, please call 877.361.2024.