Crenshaw Community Hospital will open a new detox unit in January. Chief Executive Officer Lee Anne Montgomery said the decision was based on local needs.

“We were already seeing patients that needed detox and wanted to open a unit and have staff specially trained in the process,” she said. “We wanted to provide a service for a need that is already there.”

The goal of the center will be to safely prepare patients to begin the rehabilitation process. The in-patient center will assist people with addictions during the four- to six- day period needed for controlled substances to rid the body’s system.

“It’s opening the second week in January,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery has more than 27 years of experience in healthcare administration. She has held executive leadership positions in various hospitals across the country prior to joining Crenshaw Community Hospital’s team.

Montgomery has been a RN for over 30 years and has also served as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

She started at the hospital last fall with a plethora of ideas.

The unit is the first in a long list of improvements Montgomery has in mind for CCH.

“We’re going to move this hospital forward and we need our community to do so,” she said.