The opioid addiction epidemic, which during the past two years has claimed more than 2,000 lives in Philadelphia, has fueled a rapid proliferation of privately owned and operated addiction treatment centers in the region.

Renovations currently underway will nearly double the number of patient rooms at a Main Line inpatient addiction treatment facility, writes John George at bizjournals.com.

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Data provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs  shows that between 2015 and 2017, the state has licensed 179 new addiction treatment centers of which 45 — more than 25 percent — opened in the five-county Philadelphia area.

The number of applications approved during the past three years statewide is more than the combined total of the applications approved during the proceeding five years. The department approved 158 addiction treatment centers between the beginning of 2010 and the end of 2014— 50 of which were in southeastern Pennsylvania.

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