Addiction treatment center Maryhaven is in danger of losing funding after years of financial troubles and no plan to remedy them, despite millions in county and city support.
A June 19 letter obtained by The Dispatch from Erika Clark Jones, CEO of the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board of Franklin County, to Maryhaven leadership expressed “profound concern” over Maryhaven’s financial status and its future ability to provide “critical” behavioral health services in central Ohio.
Maryhaven, a nonprofit first established in central Ohio in 1953 that has served more than 350,000 men, women and children since, provides numerous mental health and addiction services for the region. That includes 24/7 detox services, inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment, counseling and gambling addiction help, among many others.
Emergency funding has not sustainably helped Maryhaven
In December, Maryhaven received a $1 million loan from the city of Columbus in response to its financial struggles. The loan came just three months after the organization received $2.5 million in OneOhio Opioid Settlement funds from the Franklin County Board of Commissioners.
Still, the letter alleges that Maryhaven is no better off for the funds.
“Despite this unprecedented level of intervention, recent financial data and ongoing compliance issues from Maryhaven demonstrate a trajectory of severe financial distress that threatens your ability to sustain operations,” Jones wrote to Maryhaven leadership.
Boomer Schmidt, a spokesperson for Maryhaven, said in an emailed statement that the addiction treatment center is, like other nonprofits, in challenging times. Among those challenges are changes to Medicaid eligibility, which impacts reimbursement to Maryhaven for services.
“As a safety-net organization, we do not refuse services to those that cannot pay, and we have been forced to make difficult decisions to ensure we are able to continue to provide best-in-class care to anyone in need that walks through our doors,” Schmidt said.
Maryhaven too reliant on borrowed money, letter alleges
ADAMH’s Jones told Maryhaven in the letter that it has the authority and responsibility to monitor funding it gives out to service providers.
Reviews of Maryhaven’s financial records show it failed to provide a “detailed financial sustainability plan” through 2028 by a November 2025 deadline, and Maryhaven’s financial projections have failed to line up with actual financial performance, according to the letter. Maryhaven, it stated, has operated at a loss for every month of 2025 and 2026 to date.
According to the letter, records also show that at the end of April 2026, Maryhaven had just $309,767 in cash on hand. Meanwhile, Maryhaven reportedly owes more than $2.4 million, and its reliance on what’s meant to be one-time funding or borrowed money, like that provided by the city, has increased, Jones wrote.
Maryhaven has not yet made a payment on the loan from the city, according to Columbus Finance Director Chris Long.
Long told The Dispatch the city is in talks with Maryhaven about possibly restructuring the loan to give the organization longer to pay it back. The loan was initially required to be paid back in one year.
What’s next for Maryhaven
In a statement to The Dispatch, ADAMH said that the board’s top priority is “the availability of affordable, quality mental health and addiction care” and repeated its concerns about Maryhaven’s ability to deliver that care.
“ADAMH and its partners care deeply about the reliability of the ADAMH provider network and supporting those who rely on its services,” the statement reads.
Maryhaven has until June 30 to respond to ADAMH and other stakeholders with next steps, whether that’s fixing its financial problems or transitioning client care. Otherwise, Jones wrote, ADAMH has the right to “claw back” some funding and terminate its contract with Maryhaven.
“While our primary goal remains the preservation of client care, we must demand immediate and transparent corrective action,” Jones wrote.
“We understand the concerns raised and intend to keep partnering with Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County to drive a resolution that meets the needs of the community,” Schmidt said in a prepared statement.
Business and consumer issues reporter Samantha Hendrickson can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Maryhaven, a behavioral health provider, could lose Franklin County funding
Reporting by Samantha Hendrickson, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Samantha Hendrickson, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
