TAKING ON ADDICTIONS

Recession Sparks Move To Convert Conference Centre Into Rehab
Program

AFTER 17 YEARS of running one of Atlantic Canada's leading centres
for corporate training, Charles Bower and his partner have turned to
drugs and alcohol.

No, the lifelong entrepreneurs aren't getting high and drunk, they're
developing an upscale residential rehab program for people trying to
kick their addictions to drugs, alcohol or gambling.

Ledgehill Recovery & Treatment Centre is situated near Middle-ton on a
44-hectare farm that Bower bought in 1986. Until recently, it was the
site of Ledgehill, the Corporate Learning Centre ,

a retreat that Bower and Pauline Murray-Bower established in 1992 to
meet the training demands of companies like

Aliant, the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. and AgraPoint.

"At the time, it was a successful business," says Fisher McKay, a
retired high school principal who has known Bower for 40 years. "But
with the economic downturn, corporate training is moving in house."

Inspiration for a new enterprise came when a visiting rehab
counsellor commented that the property was ideally suited for a
residential treatment centre. Bower and Murray-Bower were quick to
recognize an opportunity.

"We gave it a lot of thought," Murray-Bower says. "Then we did a
business plan."

They were convinced that the market for rehab facilities, especially
the high end type, is expanding.

"And that was it," Bower says.

"We were in the rehab business."

The rehab business has come a long way since former U.S. first lady
Betty Ford founded a non-profit clinic in her own name in California
in 1982. Now, thanks mainly to celebrities, checking into a rehab
facility has almost reached the sta-tus of joining a posh club.

In the western U.S., swish facilities with names like Pas-sages and
Promises can charge as much as $60,000 for a standard 28-day stay or
$100,000 for a specialty program.

At Ledgehill, a 28-day program will cost about $12,000, and while
Middleton isn't Malibu, the Bowers' sprawling estate could easily
pass for an upscale inn. Inside are sound proofed private bedrooms
with four poster beds and ensuite baths and tasteful appointments
like antique armoires and plush carpets. Outside is a beautifully
landscaped koi pond that invites reflection and a wraparound porch
that's well equipped for contemplative rocking.

"As a corporate training centre, we were already set up to feed
people and give them a place to sleep," Bower says. "One top notch
facility translated well to another."

Bower and Murray-Bower have assembled a full time staff of about 20,
including themselves, their two managing partners who are emigrating
from England, 10 clinical staff, two chefs and a number of qualified
administrators to run programs in recreation, leisure and wellness.

"Charles may not have a strong background in addiction recovery,"
McKay says, "but he knows how to put together a team that does."

Addiction eats away at routines, so the days at Ledgehill will be a
fairly structured mix of therapeutic treatment and recreation.

"Downtime increases the risk of returning to old habits," says Shannon
Doubleday, a senior counsellor who will oversee the clinical program
and handle intake and admissions. "The purpose is to teach people how
to reconnect with a sober culture."

Unlike medical models that define people by their addictions and
treat them with pills, Ledgehill will operate within a holistic
framework and embrace all aspects of recovery: physical, mental,
spiritual and emotional.

The core program will be 28 days, an accepted period of time for
residential rehab. Longer programs will run for 42 or 56 days.

Marketing has been a challenge because of the confidentiality
involved in treatment. Even the sign at the end of the driveway is a
discreet single word: Ledgehill.

"Addiction is a bit like the moose on the table," Murray-Bower says.
"People don't talk about it."

She and Bower will have to talk about it to get business. They'll talk
about it in medical trade magazines, on the Internet and at national
conferences on substance abuse. Despite the cloak of confidentiality,
they'll also rely heavily on other people talking about it.

"The Maritimes is a word-of-mouth place," Murray-Bower says, "and
there's no one here who hasn't felt the impact of ad-diction on some
level."

Murray-Bower is a youthful 63 year old with years of experience in
the business sector. Bower, equally young at 67, has 40 years of
entrepreneurship under his belt and volunteer stints with Habitat for
Humanity.

They've done their homework on the treatment of addictions.

Clients will go through some type of detoxification before coming to
Ledgehill.

They must arrive clean and remain clean to complete their program.

According to Bower, chances are that about one third will return to
their old habits.

He hopes to improve the odds by sending clients home with key supports
like scheduled weekly phone calls with a counsellor, community
connections to recovery groups, coaches and therapists, and a pair
of three day residential workshops, with the cost all included in the
initial fee. He also wants to send them home with a better connection
to nature.

"People who are addicted are out of touch with their souls," Bower
says. "Nature is more than a buzzword; it's a powerful healing process."

Ledgehill's pastoral location positions it well to facilitate this
kind of healing.

The rural base is also unique in the world of private rehab.

"There's nothing else like it in Nova Scotia," Murray-Bower says, "and
nothing else that serves our demographic of middle to upper
management and professionals."

And she and Bower have knowledge and experience in dealing with that
demographic.

"We know how to work with it," Bower says.

"It's the same demographic we've had for 18 years."