A proposed methadone clinic could soon give Ellsworth residents access to a form of opioid treatment not currently available in Hancock County.
While several Ellsworth programs offer other forms of addiction therapies — including other medication-assisted treatments — there is currently no methadone provider along the coast between Bangor and Calais.
Everest Recovery, which owns four opioid use treatment centers in Maine and Massachusetts, is set to open a site at 190 Bangor Road, by the roads’ intersection with Route 180. The company was issued a business permit for the site in February.
The center could offer methadone, buprenorphine and counseling services to people struggling with substance use disorder.
Although methadone and buprenorphine treat the same symptoms, methadone is tightly regulated, in part because its misuse could cause an overdose. Methadone fully activates the brain’s opioid receptors while buprenorphine only partially activates them.
Methadone can only be dispensed by a federally-certified opioid treatment program. Buprenorphine, on the other hand, can be prescribed by any licensed healthcare provider with standard Drug Enforcement Administration registration, like a primary care physician.
In Ellsworth, several programs offer medication-assisted treatment through buprenorphine, like Groups Recover Together and Aroostook Mental Health Center’s DownEast Treatment Center.
Unlike buprenorphine, which can be prescribed weekly, federal methadone regulations require patients to take daily in-person doses. Critics of the medication’s strict controls — which have been in effect with little reform since the 1970s — have argued the restrictions have built a barrier for patients to access methadone treatment.
Some people can’t afford to miss work every morning to receive their on-site dose, others are weary of the social stigma associated with methadone use. Those challenges are exacerbated in rural areas, where some patients drive hours to access their medications.
Still, some patients prefer methadone over buprenorphine because, as a stronger medication, it can be more effective in reducing intense cravings.
There are currently 15 methadone clinics in Maine, three of which are owned by Everest Recovery, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the federal entity that oversees such programs.
Amy Kenney, the city’s communications director, said the city is “not aware” of any methadone clinics currently operating in Ellsworth. She could not answer whether there was previously a methadone clinic in the city.
When reached by phone on Tuesday, a state substance use treatment coordinator could not immediately answer whether there has ever been a federally-certified opioid treatment program in Ellsworth.
Although the city’s Open Door Recovery Center, which closed in 2019 after losing state funding from multiple “regulatory deficiencies,” is commonly listed on methadone databases, the program did not offer medication-assisted treatment.
Everest Recovery opened its first clinic in Saco in January 2022, expanding since then to South Portland, Manchester, Maine, and Ludlow, Mass. The center has active federal licenses for each of their locations.
The Manchester site most recently accepted a “plan of correction” following an off-site inspection by state authorities on Feb. 24, according to Maine licensing records. The location’s last listed inspection was August 2024, during which inspectors reported “no deficiencies.” Five months before then, however, a full agency survey ended in another plan of corrections.
Peter Morris, the company chief executive and co-founder, declined to comment when reached by the Bangor Daily News.
“The business was issued the appropriate permits and license through the City’s standard review process,” Kenney said. “This included a change of use review, required notifications to abutters, and the applicable waiting period. No formal written concerns were received during that process.”
So far, the city has issued Everest Recovery a business license and permits for a minor development and alterations to 190 Bangor Road. The state issued a construction permit that expires July 2026.
It was not immediately clear when the center is scheduled to open.
Everest Recovery has proposed renovating the Bangor Road building’s 5,500 square foot space into an outpatient opioid treatment facility. Because of the scope of that work, it needs to be approved directly by the city’s planning board, which will hold a public hearing on the matter on March 31.
