Vin Baker Recovery opens on Milwaukee's north side
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Vin Baker, an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, celebrated a big win off the court Tuesday, March 12.
The former Bucks player opened a substance abuse center on Milwaukee’s north side -- a center community leaders said was needed.
"For us to be able to open our doors today, its good, it's good," said Paulita Payton- Murphy, executive director of Vin Baker Recovery.
Murphy and her team opened the doors to Vin Baker Recovery, a center fit to serve up to 800 people on Milwaukee's north side Tuesday morning.
"Any one of the individuals and patients that come into our clinic could potentially be our neighbor, so we have a vested interest," said Payton-Murphy.
The center is the brainchild of former Milwaukee Bucks player Vin Baker.
Baker, who is currently on a road trip with the Bucks, has been open about his own struggles with addiction.
"It's providing hope. There's a point in my life and my addiction where I had lost it," said Baker at a charity event in 2022.
The facility will provide counseling, along with state approved medical assisted treatment, providing patients with drugs like methadone, suboxone, and vivitrol -- something medical experts say is a form of harm reduction.
"You're no longer getting a high or any benefits from the sense from the methadone, it's just letting your body heal, it's letting your body calm down," said Dr. Teddy Thompson, medical director for Vin Baker Recovery.
Leaders with the center said this facility is the first step towards a better tomorrow.
"You may not be ready to stop using, or stop whatever they are doing, but we can put a plan in place that we can do some harm reduction services. Let's keep you alive at the same time, let's get you ready," said Payton-Murphy.
The center will be open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
The center will dispense supervised medication seven days a week, Monday- Friday 5 a.m.-11 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 6 a.m.-10 a.m.
The location for the facility is 4757 N. 76th Street in Milwaukee.
For more information on the center, click the link here.