THUNDER BAY — The drug strategy coordinator for the City of Thunder Bay, Cynthia Olsen, wants the city to make it onto the list of centres where the province will fund additional detox beds.
During Monday's announcement of a new model for overdose prevention sites, the Ministry of Health also revealed that it plans to allocate new detox beds in "high need communities."
"I would hope that Thunder Bay would be considered as a high need community," Olsen told Tbnewswatch.
She said there's a demonstrated need for more such beds in the city, and pointed to the outcome of a project that expanded the capacity at St. Joseph's Care Group's 22-bed detox facility at Balmoral Centre several years ago.
At the time the pilot launched in 2013, Balmoral was turning away about 1,000 clients annually due to capacity issues.
When admissions subsequently increased (doubling from 1,300 to 2,600 by 2015/16) the number of clients turned away initially dropped. However, it resumed trending upward in successive years, so that by 2015/16 those turned away totalled approximately 1,300.
In response to an inquiry from Tbnewswatch, the health ministry said it is in the process of identifying the cities where residential withdrawal management (detox) beds will be located.
"As part of this review, the ministry will consider factors including mortality data (opiod-related deaths) and morbidity data (emergency department visits and hospitalizations), as well as the provincial distribution of services including Consumption and Treatment Services," the ministry statement said.
Thunder Bay recently had the highest rate of opioid-related deaths in Ontario, with as many as 29 in 2017.
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre reports it has seen a 67 per cent increase since last year in the number of patients coming to the Emergency Department with opioid overdoses.
The ministry announcement gave the go-ahead to NorWest Community Health Centres to proceed with opening an overdose prevention service at its headquarters on Simpson Street.
Under its new plan, the government said the Overdose Prevention Site model under which these kinds of services will operate across Ontario will be renamed Consumption and Treatment Services, with a greater emphasis on long-term help for drug users to receive treatment and rehabilitation.
