Baltimore’s Tuerk House treatment center is building a new facility to provide programs for adolescents and pregnant people after buying a new property downtown at the end of last year.

The nonprofit organization wants to refurbish the 55,000 square foot facility located at 307 to 311 N. Exeter Street over the next three years.

The cost is expected to be between $22 million and $30 million.

“It’s an aggressive timeline, but the need requires it,” said Bernard Gyebi-Foster, CEO of Tuerk House. “We are looking to partner with state stakeholders and everybody else that can help us. We are looking to see how the governor and local governments can help as well. It’s really sort of an all-hands-on-deck approach to be able to really serve the citizens of the state.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of newborns suffering from opioid withdrawal has quadrupled since 1999.

The CDC says adolescent opioid overdoses increased 90% from 2019 to 2020 and another 20% from 2020 to the first half of 2021. However, exact numbers are hard to come by since not all jurisdictions track overdoses the same way.

“It's a challenge to find treatment facilities that just tailor or cater to adolescents,” Gyebi-Foster said. “It is a very difficult population to deal with, and we are looking to take on those responsibilities.”

The new facility will have 40 crisis beds along with 22 beds for adolescent inpatient programs and 22 beds for inpatient programs for pregnant people.

The facility will also house workforce development programs to help patients find jobs and gain skills.

Tuerk House has been a haven for people addicted to drugs in Baltimore since 1970. It recently refurbished its main campus in West Baltimore.