
If you are planning on opening a residential facility, your residences must be commercially zoned. Some states require a “Certificate of Need” (CON) to start a rehab center. This is a two-step process. First, a letter of intent must be created. Second, an application must be filed. In most cases, applicants may need to pay a CON filing fee.
- Step 1: Do Your Research. You need to know everything that there is to know about the industry. ...
- Step 2: Find a Location. ...
- Step 3: Get Licensed. ...
- Step 4: Formulate a Pro-Forma and Business Plan. ...
- Step 5: Get Accredited. ...
- Step 6: Find and Train Staff. ...
- Step 7: Market. ...
- Step 8: Open Your Doors.
How do I apply for a residential treatment center contract?
Residential treatment centers contract directly with HHSC and agree to provide comprehensive residential treatment services as outlined in the statement of work. RTCs must apply through the Open Enrollment webpage.
How to start a drug rehab center?
In many cases, people who start a rehab center look to marketing and advising agencies in order to earn these accreditations. Every business – especially one of this nature will require a detailed and sustainable business plan. To succeed, you will need to create a sustainable and accurate plan.
How can I find the right treatment facility for my patient?
However, the more comfortable and pleasant the facility is, the more the patient will feel at ease. In some cases, you may be able to find a “campus-like” property in which the housing and the treatment buildings are either under the same roof or within close proximity to each other.
How do I open a residential recovery center?
Contact your local authorities for procedures you have to take. You must also follow zoning laws. To open a residential recovery center, your facility/livnig location for inpatients must be placed in a commercial zone.

How to Develop Treatment Programs for Hospitals
Ascension Recovery Services provides start-up consulting services for hospitals interested in developing residential treatment centers (RTC), partial hospitalization programs (PHP), intensive outpatient programs (IOP) and sober living homes (SLH), all of which are a crucial part of the continuum of care for SUD.
Some of our recent hospital clients
Ascension is proud to work with WVU Medicine (WVU Hospitals and WVU Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry) to bring a new residential drug and alcohol treatment center to Morgantown, West Virginia.
Residential Treatment Center Business and Organizational Structure
During Phase Two, we begin by developing a budget based on the hospital’s goals and financial tolerability. Start-up capital is usually comprised of cash and financing activities, with a goal of recuperating capital contributions through operating activities in the first couple of years.
First Steps to Open a Residential Treatment Facility
Savvy business owners start with a feasibility study to gain a better understanding of what type of center will thrive in a specific location.
How to Ensure Profitability
While it’s easy to get wrapped up in a passion for helping others, it’s critical to look at your treatment facility as a business. If you don’t, you may never even open the doors to your first client.
Staffing Your Private Rehab Center
Once you obtain your license and secure a location, it’s time to hire staff. Even in the smallest treatment center, you’ll need a well-oiled team to make your facility successful.
Interested in More Posts Like This?
We hope we’ve inspired you to follow your dreams of helping people who struggle with addiction. Opening a residential treatment facility takes considerable time and money, but the impact you’ll have on other’s lives makes it all worth the effort.
Partnership for those looking to expand and develop additional residential treatment centers
With over 40% of Americans suffering from mental health and addiction related crises and an increase in the amount of addiction-related deaths per year in the United States, there is a real need for additional high-quality residential treatment centers. Are you looking to open or expand your own? We can help!
Planning, Analysis, and Feasibility
During the first phase, we will work with you to conduct feasibility studies and market analyses in order to determine the best location for your addiction treatment facility. We will also help you discover how you will differentiate your expansion from your existing services, as well as other recovery centers in the area.
Development and Entitlement
During the second phase, we will begin by developing a budget, keeping in mind that the start-up capital usually consists of cash and financing activities and will need to be recuperated with the first few years’ operating activities.
Construction Management
Phase Three is where the dirty work begins, and we’re here to assist you through it all. During this phase, we will finally execute on the decisions made in Phase Two and work together to see your project through to its completion. This includes:
See if your program qualifies
Whether you’re seeking to expand an existing site or create a new facility, we look forward to creating a brighter future with you. To see if your program qualifies for our partnership, please complete our questionnaire:
What is the business plan for addiction?
The business plan puts your thoughts to paper and creates what the business will become. This is required by all banks and most serious investors.
Is opening a treatment center expensive?
Opening a treatment center can be costly. Your largest investment will be into the property and the people running the center. The issue with answering this question is that each center is vastly different. What type of center are you opening, modalities, level of care, city and state, etc.
Do you need a license to open a recovery center?
Each state is different, like California. If you have 6 beds or fewer in the state of California, you are not required to be zoned commercial, however, you still need a license.
Is it advisable to open an IOP in West Palm Beach?
For example, opening a residential and IOP center is West Palm Beach, FL would not be advisable as there are so many in that area already. It’s saturated. However, offering that in Ohio would be very beneficial.
What is the best way to advertise a rehab center?
Social Media Marketing. Social Media is a great community building and branding tool to use when you start a rehab center. Facebook marketing also provides a great advertising platform in which you can leverage the content you create and put it in front of a large audience.
What is the first step in opening a medical facility?
Obtaining a license is the first and crucial step to opening your facility. You must remember that your patients will be attending your facility to receive help for dire mental health and medical conditions – whatever they may be. Therefore, like any medical facility, you must acquire a license to conduct business.
What is the difference between a large scale rehab and a small scale rehab?
Large scale rehabs tend to have a higher advantage to purchasing as well as marketing sources that would provide referrals. Small scale facilities have more leverage in competition by providing superior service, integration of treatments, and specialized treatments. Think about what your approach should be.
How many people received treatment for addiction in 2012?
Research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), states that 2.5 million Americans received care at an addiction treatment facility in 2012. The market for addiction treatment according to SAMSHA is estimated to be about $35 billion per year with more than 14,000 treatment facilities in existence.
Why is marketing important in rehab?
Without the ability to bring in new clients, your treatment center as well as your investment, will be a failure. It is highly important that all of your marketing efforts need to be legal, ethical and effective.
Do you need a certificate of need to open a rehab center?
If you are planning on opening a residential facility, your residences must be commercially zoned. Some states require a “Certificate of Need” (CON) to start a rehab center.
Who oversees the entire clinical staff?
However, no matter what, this requires a few particular and vital staff members. Clinical Director – The Clinical Director oversees the entire clinical staff. This could include your licensed therapists, and any employee that plays a role in treatment of the mental health of your clients.
How to maintain a facility?
To maintain your facility, you need an income, like a business. It is important to have a solid business plan and pro-forma. This will assist estimating and maintaining income, calculating expenditures/revenue, and your marketing budget. Marketing is the most crucial part of your business plan and pro-forma. These plans will also help ground how much investment is needed to launch your facility.
What is recovery center?
A recovery center is a medical institution, and requires legal licensure, along with plenty of regulation and paperwork. The second issue is keeping the center profitable and open. We have seen many individuals starting up their own centers, without our consultations, forget to solidify a marketing plan. Unlike restaurants, people will not just ...
What is rehabilition recovery?
The rehabilition/recovery industry is similar to other industries in staffing needs. Without a proper staff, a business can fall through. Below is a small, basic set of staff you need to acquire and train.
Do rehab centers need a license?
Rehab centers are comparable to private practices of medicine, so you are required to be licensed to operate a business in the addiction field. Contact your local authorities for procedures you have to take. You must also follow zoning laws.
What to consider when starting a rehab center?
Another factor to consider when starting your rehab center business is the location where the rehab will be located in. even though it isn’t compulsory that your rehab center be residential; however most of the successful rehab centers are those where patients can stay for a predetermined time and then leave.
Why do you have to start a rehab center?
Before starting a rehab center business, you have to be sure that it is a business you are ready for, because apart from making profit like any other business, the primary cause of the business aims at achieving a noble cause of ensuring people become free of their addictions whatever they may be.
What is a business plan for rehab?
A business plan is the document that will show any financial institution how serious you intend taking your rehab center business.
What are the specializations of rehab?
Regarding the areas of specializations in the rehab business industry, some of the specializations are; alcohol and drug addiction. internet addiction. sex addiction.
How many employees do you need to run a rehab center?
This would be about 10 to 20 employees.
What are the challenges of rehab?
Some of the threats and challenges you are likely to face in your rehab center business include a drop in funding from the federal government which might be due to a downturn in the economy; more strict regulations from operating state, or more competitors in the same niche.
Why is financing important for rehab?
Financing your rehab center business is very important because no business or business idea can thrive without finances, no matter how noble or fantastic the business is. Finance helps the business not only become a reality but also to thrive and grow.
Should You Focus on a Particular Type of Addiction?
When starting your rehab center, you might think it’s a good idea to help everyone that has some form of addiction. However, while this can sound like a great approach, it’s often not the best option for people opening their first rehab center.
Find a Good Location
The location of your clinic can have a big impact on how successful it’s going to be.
Think About the Finances of Your Operation
A rehab clinic is a business, and so you need to do the math to figure out what it’ll take for you to be profitable. After all, if you can’t make your clinic profitable, you’ll struggle to create a thriving clinic that helps people get past their addictions.
Ready to Start Your Own Rehab Center?
After reading through the tips in this post, you should be ready to start your own rehab center.

Feasibility Study
- First step is a feasibility study. This will help you determine exactly what is needed in your local area (or the area in which you wish to open a center). In this phase you will need to determine the type of rehab center you want to open. By type, we are referring to the level of your treatment center will provide. For example, will it be a full c...
Licensing
- As opening a rehab center is like opening a private practice in medicine, you need to be a licensedto conduct business in the addiction field. This is done through the local authorities. This involves zoning as well. If you are looking to open a residential recovery center the home or living location of your residence could require commercial medical zoning. Each state is different, like …
Business Plan
- Like any business, you need to create a professional addiction center business plan and pro-forma. The business plan puts your thoughts to paper and creates what the business will become. This is required by all banks and most serious investors. To learn more about how we can help with your business plan writing, click here
Staff and Training
- The recovery industry is not much different than most. Your staff will create an amazing experience for your patients. You need to hire the following staff to open a center: 1. Executive Staff 1.1. Medical Director 1.2. Executive Director 2. Intake Staff (handling inbound leads for treatment) 3. Medical Staff 4. Clerical Staff 5. Janitorial Workers 6. Case Workers 7. Managers 8…
Accreditations CARF and Joint Commission
- Accreditation from CARF or The Joint Commission (JCAHO)is highly valuable these days. More and more insurance companies are requiring one of these two accreditations in-order to enter treatment which means if you allow a patient to enter your facility and are not accredited, they will not pay out for the services your provided.
Marketing Execution
- As we said before, marketing is where most people fall flat in the recovery business. They don’t provide enough budget to cover what is needed and end up running out of money or have empty beds when they open. Marketing for addiction rehab centers is a two-pronged approach. The first prong being long term investment in Organic Search and your brand. Organic search (SEO) is Go…