ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque celebrated a milestone on Monday as they are preparing to open a sobering center. They hope it will address a crisis in the community while easing the burden on emergency rooms. “We need somewhere to take these individuals that's not the hospital because the other alternative is jail. Again, we can do better. This is our time to do better,” said Director of CABQ Health, Housing, and Homelessness Gilbert Ramirez. The sobering center, years in the making, will serve up to 50 people at a time. The city estimates it will help more than 18,000 people annually. The center will be open 24/7 and is complete with beds, recliners, and private rooms. Albuquerque department sheds light on object attached to some parking meters The new facility inside the Gateway Center is one of only 60 sobering centers nationwide. Officials said city and county first responders will now be referring some patients to the sobering center instead of taking them to the emergency room, which they said is not always what these patients need. From 2018 to 2020, the city said there were 54,000 visits to metro hospitals related to substance use. They said the sobering center will keep those hospital rooms open for other emergencies. “We are really excited to have a place that we can take people that will relieve the demands on the ER, so that we can get our more critical patients in and processed at the ER faster," said Albuquerque Fire Rescue Chief Emily Jaramillo. More than $8 million was used to create the center, and it comes from local, state, and federal funds. Patients can stay up to 24 hours. Once they get released, they will be connected to recovery resources and other services. The sobering center will be open in December. The Gateway Center, which the city has touted as a hub for housing and homelessness services, already offers overnight shelter and other facilities. The city said it's working to open the medical respite center, a place for those released from the hospital but still need a place to recover.