Overdose prevention site moving ahead
The region’s first temporary overdose prevention site has taken another step forward with a funding agreement from the province now in the hands of Positive Living Niagara.
The St. Catharines agency, which will host the temporary, six-month supervised injection site aimed at preventing opioid overdoses, received the contract last week and is already posting for jobs.
“We’re starting to do recruitment now and we’re looking forward to getting it going,” said Glen Walker, executive director of Positive Living Niagara, at 120 Queenston St.
“Lots of people have been asking about it, our clients are saying, ‘When is it?’ ‘When is it happening?’ It’s nice to finally move forward and get ready to implement the program.”
The goal of the overdose prevention site is to provide a safer environment for people who inject drugs and may otherwise do it alone. The idea is to have staff on site with naloxone to prevent overdoses, as well as provide sterile injection supplies, counselling services and other supports.
Funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the temporary site will be exempt from federal laws that deal with the use of illegal drugs.
The program was created by the previous Liberal government in response to a growing opioid crisis across the province.
In Niagara alone, paramedics from Niagara Emergency Medical Services dealt with 520 cases of suspected opioid overdoes in 2017 — up 335 per cent from 2016.
Walker said the temporary site should be ready to open in September and will run seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The agency has reconfigured its Queenston Street office space to make room for the clinic and has posted for outreach workers on job websites.
Walker said the funding will be just under $140,000.
“In terms of saving lives and protecting people, it’s a great investment, I think.”
Positive Living and the Overdose Prevention and Education Network of Niagara have been working towards not only the temporary site, but a permanent one to follow.
Walker said they’ve applied to provincial and federal governments with a letter of intent saying they will move forward with a proposal for a permanent pro-
gram. What happens with the temporary site will help form a plan for the permanent site.
“For us, it’s what have we learned from having this temporary site and as well, is there a need? Are we meeting the need?” Walker said.
“We’re really not even sure what the demand is going to look like. Certainly the interest out there has been extremely strong as we initially suspected. We’re not quite sure what we’re going to be facing once we open the doors.”
Walker said they don’t want to see a break in service and hope that as the temporary site winds down, a permanent one will have been finalized with supports and staff ready to go.