Madison is moving toward approval of an addiction treatment clinic by Acadia Healthcare after the company relocated its proposal following community opposition to an initial downtown site. The Select Board has scheduled two public hearings this month to consider Acadia’s application for a license to open its clinic at the Madison Business Gateway industrial park off Route 148, with hearings planned at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at Main Street Middle School and on January 26 at the Old Point Avenue School.
Company Background and Services
Acadia Healthcare, a for-profit behavioral health care provider headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee, operates 262 facilities across 39 states. The company currently runs six clinics in Maine in Bangor, Calais, Presque Isle, Rumford, South Portland and Waterville. The proposed Madison clinic would serve patients with opioid use disorder and would provide medication-assisted treatment, including methadone and Suboxone, a combination medication containing buprenorphine and naloxone. Additional services would include medical evaluations and monitoring, individual and group counseling, and education programs. Initial staffing would consist of one full-time registered nurse, one administrative staff member, one on-site security guard and other part-time clinical and medical staff as needed.
Path to Current Location
Acadia’s original 2024 proposal to locate the clinic at the former Taylor’s Drug Store at 2 Old Point Avenue, a major downtown intersection near schools and businesses, prompted significant community opposition. More than 200 residents signed a petition asking Acadia to reconsider the downtown location. In June 2024, voters enacted a 180-day moratorium prohibiting facilities that dispense controlled substances. In October 2024, voters approved a restrictive ordinance limiting such facilities to the eastern side of the Madison Business Gateway or to a 2 1/2-mile stretch of U.S. Route 201 between White School House Road and the Skowhegan town line.
Operational Details
The facility at 36 Business Park Drive, the former site of an animal hospital, would operate from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily with expected peak traffic at 5:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Security measures would include controlled building access, efficient patient flow design, alarm systems and secure medication storage. All patients must sign Acadia’s “Good Neighbor Policy,” which can result in exclusion for infractions including littering, smoking in nondesignated areas, reckless driving, shoplifting at area businesses and illegal drug possession. Acadia identified about 250 Waterville clinic patients living in Somerset County and 150 living in Madison as the service population for the clinic.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.centralmaine.com/2026/01/06/madison-residents-get-last-chance-to-comment-on-addiction-clinic-plans/