Ketamine Wellness Centers in Arizona and across county abruptly shut down

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- It’s a treatment that can be lifesaving. Ketamine helps those with depression and chronic pain and assists those struggling with mental health. But many patients in Arizona are now being forced to look elsewhere for their ketamine after Ketamine Wellness Centers (KWC) abruptly closed all locations across the state this past Friday.

Pinal County resident Barby Ingle is one of those patients. She’s been using ketamine for over a decade. “My entire life changed,” Ingle said. “I went into the hospital. And seven days later, I walked out.”

Once Ingle starts listing all the ways ketamine has changed her life, it’s hard for her to stop. “It’s helped with dystonia,” she said. “It’s helped with a lot of chronic pain issues that I face on a daily basis.” Ingle started getting ketamine infusions for her pain in 2009 and received her latest ones at the Tucson Ketamine Wellness Center a couple of weeks ago.

But last Friday, Ketamine Wellness Centers, not just in Arizona but across the country, abruptly closed. The current website provides information for patients on obtaining medical records. “When it finally closed down, I was like woah what are the patients going to do?” Ingle said. “It’s a shock, and I’m worried about the employees as well and where they’re going to go.”

For former KWC digital marketing manager Jess Aumick, that’s still up in the air after she lost her job last Friday when the company ceased operations. “We were called into the boardroom around 4 pm, and told that KWC would be closing,” Aumick said. “And basically not to come in on Monday.”

KWC was acquired by a company called Delic Holdings back in 2021. In a note from KWC doctors to patients, they said, “due to the inability of Delic to meet the financial commitments of the rapid expansion, we were forced to abruptly close all clinics and the corporate office.”

For Aumick, that meant she still hadn’t gotten her last paycheck. “Rent is due on the first,” she said. “I don’t know how far in advance KWC knew this was going to happen, so I don’t know how much notice they could have given us. It’s definitely stressful, though.”

As for Ingle, she still hasn’t received all of her medical records. But she knows she doesn’t have time to wait around. “I am making phone calls, talking to providers and trying to get a new place to go,” she said. “My tool is being taken away. How do I get this part of my life back so I can continue to live?”

Signs outside the Ketamine Wellness Center in Gilbert recommended the Scottsdale Ketamine Clinic and Ahwatukee Ketamine Clinic as alternative treatment sites in the Valley. The phone number listed to call for those sites is 480-702-9193.

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