Medical detox for Hollywood — supervised, then straight into treatment.

RECO Intensive sits 35 miles north of Hollywood — a 50-minute drive up I-95 from Hollywood Beach, Emerald Hills, and Oakwood. The distance is a clinical advantage: it separates detox and early recovery from the daily routines that reinforced active use. Our detox partners hand off directly to RECO's residential and PHP programs, so the psychiatrist, therapist, and case manager who will run your treatment are already involved before you leave the detox unit.

From Hollywood, the drive to RECO Intensive in Delray Beach is about 35 miles up I-95 — roughly 50 minutes outside of rush hour, longer if you leave at 7:45 a.m. on a weekday. Most clients we admit from Hollywood Beach, Emerald Hills, Hollywood Lakes, Hollywood Hills, and Oakwood don’t try to commute back and forth every day. They combine our partial hospitalization program with on-site sober-living housing in Delray, which lets the geographic distance do clinical work: it separates the daily routines tied to active use — the same gas station, the same bar on Hollywood Boulevard, the same friend’s apartment — from the person doing the hard work of withdrawal and early recovery. For someone starting with detox, that separation matters from day one.

RECO’s detox partner facilities provide 24/7 medical supervision through the acute withdrawal phase, followed by direct admission into our residential or PHP program. There’s no gap in care, no transfer paperwork between unrelated organizations, no waiting list between levels. You enter detox knowing where you are going next, with the same clinical team already involved in planning your treatment.

When medical detox is the right starting point

Medical detox is indicated when the withdrawal risk is moderate to severe. In practical terms, that means three substance categories carry real medical danger during cessation: alcohol, benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan), and opioids (heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone). Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can produce seizures and, in severe cases, delirium tremens — both of which require medical management. Opioid withdrawal is rarely life-threatening in physically healthy adults, but it is intensely uncomfortable, dehydrating, and the single most common reason people relapse within the first 72 hours of trying to quit on their own.

Stimulant detox — cocaine, methamphetamine, prescription amphetamines — is rarely medically necessary in the same way. The withdrawal is psychological more than physiological: profound fatigue, depressed mood, intense cravings, sometimes suicidal ideation. People going through stimulant withdrawal don’t usually need IV fluids and anticonvulsants, but they do benefit from a supervised, contained setting where the impulse to use again can be interrupted. RECO’s clinical assessment, structured around the six ASAM dimensions, helps determine which setting fits — and whether a brief stabilization or a full medical detox is appropriate.

What 24/7 medical supervision actually looks like

The clinical work inside a detox unit is concrete and measurable. Nursing staff check vital signs on a defined schedule — blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, oxygen saturation — and document withdrawal symptoms using validated rating scales. For alcohol, that’s the CIWA-Ar (Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol, revised), a ten-item scale covering tremor, sweating, nausea, agitation, and orientation. For opioids, it’s the COWS (Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale), which tracks pulse, pupil size, gooseflesh, GI symptoms, and anxiety. These scores guide medication decisions.

Medications used during detox depend on the substance. Alcohol withdrawal is typically managed with a benzodiazepine taper — long-acting agents like chlordiazepoxide or diazepam — to suppress autonomic hyperactivity and prevent seizures. Opioid withdrawal is most often managed with buprenorphine induction, which both relieves symptoms and serves as the bridge to ongoing medication-assisted treatment. Adjunct medications like clonidine, ondansetron, and trazodone address specific symptoms — blood pressure, nausea, sleep — without adding addictive potential.

The point of the medical layer isn’t comfort for its own sake. It’s safety, and it’s removing the physiological obstacle that prevents people from engaging with the psychological work of recovery. Detox is a medical procedure. It is not a willpower exercise, and treating it like one is one of the most common reasons unsupervised attempts fail.

Direct continuity into residential or PHP

The handoff between detox and the next level of care is where many treatment journeys break down. A person stabilizes over five to seven days in a detox facility, gets discharged, and then has to find — and admit themselves to — a separate residential or outpatient program. That gap, even a few days long, is where relapse most often happens. The acute withdrawal is over, the cravings remain, and the structure is gone.

At RECO, the detox-to-treatment transition happens within a single coordinated system. Clients moving into our residential program or partial hospitalization program do so as a direct clinical handoff — not a referral. The therapist who will run your individual sessions, the psychiatrist who will manage any continuing medications, and the case manager who will coordinate your sober-living placement all receive your detox records and treatment recommendations directly. Nothing has to be re-explained, no momentum is lost, and you are not making a series of phone calls during the most vulnerable week of your year.

Medication-assisted induction during detox

For opioid use disorder specifically, what happens during the detox window has long-term consequences. Buprenorphine induction — starting Suboxone or a similar formulation under medical supervision when withdrawal symptoms reach a defined COWS threshold — substantially reduces craving and protects against the steep relapse risk of the first 30 days. For clients who prefer non-opioid maintenance, extended-release naltrexone (Vivitrol) can be initiated after a fully opioid-free interval.

For alcohol use disorder, medications like naltrexone and acamprosate reduce craving and the reinforcing effect of drinking. These can be started during or immediately after the detox phase. RECO’s psychiatry team coordinates with our detox partners so that medication decisions made during the acute phase carry forward seamlessly into IOP or PHP. Therapy modalities — CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing, EMDR or Trauma-Focused CBT for clients with co-occurring trauma — layer on top of that medication foundation rather than competing with it. For deeper detail on specific substances, see our pages on alcohol addiction treatment and opioid addiction treatment.

Insurance, logistics, and how Hollywood clients start

Most major commercial insurance carriers — Aetna, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Magellan — cover medically necessary detox followed by residential or PHP treatment. Our admissions team can run a benefits check in under an hour and walk you through any out-of-pocket figures before you commit to anything. Our insurance verification page outlines what we accept and what to expect from the process.

For a Hollywood family making this call, the practical sequence is usually: phone call, insurance verification, brief clinical screening, and transport up I-95 to the detox partner facility. Five to seven days of medical stabilization follow, then a direct move to RECO in Delray Beach for residential or PHP. Sober-living housing through our network covers the residential side, and our aftercare and alumni program stays involved long after the structured phase ends. If you’re calling from Hollywood Beach or anywhere in Broward County, (866) 396-2008 reaches our admissions team directly.

Serving residents of: Hollywood Beach, Emerald Hills, Hollywood Lakes, Hollywood Hills, Oakwood.