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Drug Treatment Center Filling Closed Hospital

CARBONDALE — A shuttered hospital in Lackawanna County will open its doors again next week as a drug treatment facility. Marian Community Hospital in Carb...

CARBONDALE -- A shuttered hospital in Lackawanna County will open its doors again next week as a drug treatment facility. Marian Community Hospital in Carbondale has a new life and a new purpose.

Carbondale native Fran Karachillo worked in the kitchen at Marian Community Hospital for 25 years. He never thought he would ever cook there again.

Karachillo is one of about a dozen former Marian Community employees who will work in the building again when the doors reopen next week.

The hospital closed in 2012, but on May 15 it will be known as Just Believe Recovery Center, a drug treatment center. Employees spent the past few months renovating the old hospital.

"It was completely stripped down of everything, all the stuff that was in here before. It needed painting. It needed just about everything," said Just Believe employee Sam Palmer.

Just Believe Recovery Center received some push back from the community, including a lawsuit from neighbors in Carbondale. It delayed the center's opening by a year.

"I think there could be another 10 facilities like this open and it still wouldn`t scratch the surface of the need for true quality care. That`s really our biggest challenge here is to be able to get it very clear that after the almost 19 years that I was affiliated with Clearbrook treatment centers that this is a reputable facility," said Just Believe's Chief Operating Officer, Gary Davis.

The recovery center takes up what used to be the emergency room and surgical center of Marian Community Hospital, but that`s only about half of the square footage of the building. The new owner, Cynthia Bellino, told Newswatch 16 she hopes to fill the rest of the building.

"There are a lot of services that left when the hospital left, so between this space and the professional building, we`re trying to get people to come in and open offices here," added Palmer.

Those plans are still years away. For right now, Karachillo says he's just happy to hear about a new employer in his hometown.

"It`s going to be a good thing, you know, putting people back to work. We don`t need any more empty buildings in town," he said.

Just Believe Recovery Center in Carbondale will open with about 30 employees and expects to hire more.

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