A crisis stabilization center in Oak Bluffs will finally become reality after leaders at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services signed off on an agreement this week that clears the way for use of the building known as the Red House.

The project began three years ago when the hospital pledged to donate the building to Community Services to help fill a gap in addiction and health care treatment on the Vineyard. The building is situated next door to the hospital campus in Oak Bluffs. Crisis stabilization units allow people to be evaluated and assisted instead of hospitalized and treated at the emergency room.

After the hospital changed leadership 15 months ago, the Red House project was put briefly on hold. Incoming president and chief executive officer Joseph Woodin said he fully backed the collaborative project, but because the building was being used by the hospital billing department he needed to find suitable new space to house the staff that would be displaced.

This week Mr. Woodin and Community Services executive director Julie Fay announced they had signed a 10-year lease agreement for use of the Red House.

“We are extremely pleased to fulfill this commitment,” Mr. Woodin said in a press statement.

“It’s better care, it’s better coordinated care, and it’s going to reduce the hospitalization rate,” Ms. Fay said in the statement.

The agreement is effective June 1.

The facility will have two beds and areas for group and individual therapy that will be used by Community Services’ long-term care program New Paths. The program is designed to reduce the number of adults 18 and older who are referred off-Island for inpatient care, and will focus on short-term recovery care, evaluations for hospitalization, and a center for the Island’s outpatient recovery programs.

Community Services has received a $50,000 Tower Foundation grant for startup costs to renovate the Red House. Renovations are expected to take five to six months in order to meet extensive requirements under regulatory codes. Meanwhile, training will begin for Community Services staff in crisis intervention stabilization.