Rebecca St. overdose prevention site extends service into new year

Hamilton has received an extension for its overdose prevention site downtown that will allow it to continue operating into the new year.

A government exemption that allowed the temporary service at Urban Core Community Health Centre at 71 Rebecca St. to operate since June was scheduled to expire Friday.

The extension buys partners at the service enough time to submit an application to establish a permanent site.

“It is great news to have more time and with no disruption in service,” said Denise Brooks, Urban Core’s executive director. “(Submitting the application) is quite a piece of work to do in a short period of time.”

She anticipates a hard deadline of the end of January to submit the application but said it will be ready well before that.

The service is a partnership between Urban Core, the Shelter Health Network and the city’s public health department. It received $116,300 in funding from the previous Liberal provincial government.

Those with addiction issues come to the site to safely use drugs such as opioids. Should they have an overdose, the workers at the clinic can help with resuscitation.

In its first five months , the centre had 1,786 visits and 17 overdoses were successfully treated on-site with oxygen or naloxone under the supervision of medical staff.

Hamilton’s rate of opioid-related deaths last year was 72 per cent higher than the provincial average.

Dr. Robin Lennox of the Shelter Health Network said there has been “huge anxiety” about what the long-term future of the service in Hamilton will look like.

If a permanent site is approved, it will be reclassified as a consumption and treatment service (CST) under a new provincial program.

Temporary services have required only the province to grant exemptions to use illicit drugs, but longer-term facilities require exemptions from the federal government under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Organizations from across the city are coming together to create one bid for a permanent CST site.

The hope was to have more than one, but the new Progressive Conservative government has capped the total number in Ontario at 21.

Brooks said that if approved, the site will offer a more comprehensive “wraparound” service, including harm-reduction information and counselling, and connection to affiliated health services — to a limited extent this has been happening already.