Province invests $4M in virtual drug treatment
Petra Schulz’s son asked her to make an appointment with his psychologist and doctor the day before he died from an accidental fentanyl overdose.
“I wondered if he had relapsed but was afraid to ask,” she said. “He died a day after asking me and never got to go to that appointment.”
For Schulz, who co-founded Moms Stop The Harm, it’s crucial that the provincial government invests in harm reduction services, noting people can’t access treatment if they’re dead.
She, like many others, was outraged when the UCP government halted a phone-based harm reduction project on Thursday only to announce a $4 million investment on Monday for a virtual drug treatment program — yet again overlooking harm reduction services.
“What is missing from this announcement and all the previous ones is harm reduction. If someone wants treatment tomorrow, we need to keep them alive today,” said Schulz.
Over four years, the $4 million investment will expand access to the province’s virtual opioid dependency program (VODP), which uses a virtual clinic model for clients referred for opioid agonist therapy. Assessment, treatment and support are provided through video, phone or texting, while medications are delivered by a local pharmacist.
Schulz said it’s an “excellent” program that has helped many people and especially those outside of urban centres.
On Thursday, just hours before the Alberta Health Services’ virtual supervised consumption program was set to launch, Jason Luan, associate minister of mental health and addiction, pulled the plug calling the service “frankly dangerous.”
The project would have connected clients to a peer operator, tasked with monitoring them after substance use and dispatching medical services if they become unresponsive.
Luan, instead, highlighted the province’s “safe services” on Thursday in reference to additional treatment and recovery spaces. He made no references to harm-reduction programs.
In a statement released Monday, Luan said the province is “creating pathways for recovery across the continuum of care for Albertans.”
Heather Sweet, the NDP opposition critic for mental health and addictions, said the UCP announcement is clearly in response to their decision to scrap Alberta-first virtual overdose response service pending review.
Sweet said it allows the province to “change the conversation and not be held accountable on their decision.”
Luan did not respond to a request for comment before publication deadline.
This is the latest in a series of incidents where the province has invested in treatment and recovery-based programming while it defunds, reviews and pauses harm reduction services in Alberta.
The VODP program is successful in the province, having received a patient experience award by the Health Quality Council of Alberta.
“Our clients … and their families tell us that they are moving forward in recovery to lives they never thought they could have,” said Dr. Nathaniel Day, medical director of VODP, in a statement.
Alberta’s opioid agonist therapy gap coverage program covers the cost of medications used to treat opioid use disorder, including buprenorphine, naloxone and methadone. These medications are taken daily and can cost more than $10,000 per year without benefits, said the province.
It is used for Albertans who are waiting to receive coverage through a supplementary health benefit plan and can cover costs for upwards of 120 days.