Memorial Medical Center, Ashland, 2022 Community Benefits

Recovery Resources Under One Roof

The Partners in Recovery Center is located at 401 Lakeshore Dr. West, Ashland.
In early 2019, Memorial Medical Center (MMC) in rural northern Wisconsin helped to launch a recovery drop-in center to provide a safe, sober and welcoming environment for the people in the community who were struggling with addiction.

The Partners in Recovery Drop-In Center (PIRC) was well-received and hosted AA, NA and other recovery group meetings as well as some fun parties and gatherings around holidays and other occasions. All the activities and operations were run by a group of volunteers with a solid core of those being staff from MMC’s health care system. The center was becoming widely popular and trusted in the region when the COVID emergency hit and the facility had to close its doors.

The PIRC opened back up in the spring of 2022 and is once again becoming a hub for MMC’s recovery community. A growing need for addiction and mental health services in the area emerged from MMC’s Community Health Needs Assessment survey completed last winter. MMC is engaged in addressing this need. One of the ways they help is by providing continued funding and donations to the PIRC. The Voices for Recovery, Chequamegon Bay Chapter, plays a big part in organizing and appropriating funds from MMC to the center and is led by one of MMC’s behavioral health services addiction therapists, Jerry Seitz. 

“We are so grateful to the hospital for contributing to this very much needed service in our community,” said Jerry. “Especially in the winter months, people want to come and hang out and have a cup of coffee or just sit and be able to relax in a safe place. The PIRC is like a retreat for some people.”

The building was built in the late 40s and is need of constant repairs and upkeep. Looking to the future, MMC is committed to helping with renovations and expansions in order to keep this resource open and available to our recovery community.

“It’s about making people happy and proud to be in recovery and giving them a space to be able to gather with friends and meet new people in a sober environment, said Jerry. It’s about feeling safe and encouraging healthy lifestyles for all of the people of our region.”