Hospital-based consumption site approved for Alberta

SITE APPROVED FOR ROYAL ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL

Another supervised drug consumption site is to open in Alberta next week as the province continues to fight a growing number of deaths from opioids such as fentanyl.

The government says the site for in-patients at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will be able to handle six people at a time.

Nurses will be on staff to provide life-saving services, including the fentanyl antidote naloxone, in case of an overdose.

Patients will also have access to doctors, counsellors, social workers, as well as to mental-health supports and opioid dependency treatment.

The province says it’s the first hospital-based supervised drug consumption site in North America.

The Royal Alexandra location is to open Monday.

“It’s important we do everything we can to support individuals and families affected by the opioid crisis,” Health Minister Sarah Hoffman said in a release.

“Supervised consumption sites provide a secure, supportive place for people who use substances, while also being connected with wraparound services such as counselling and treatment programs.”

Health Canada has approved six supervised consumption sites in Alberta. Another site in Edmonton, one in Calgary and one in Lethbridge have already opened.

Fentanyl deaths in the province have increased sharply in recent years. There were six deaths in 2011, but by 2016 that had risen to 358. There were 562 fatal overdoses last year.