More spaces for addiction recovery in Okanagan

Fifteen publicly funded beds will be added to three drug addiction recovery centres in the Okanagan.

The additional spaces, announced Tuesday, will be added to locations in Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon.

“There’s more to do, but we are working hard to build up a strong system of addictions and mental health care,” Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, said in a government news release.

The Bridge Youth and Family Services society in Kelowna gets four additional beds, the Penticton Recovery Resource Centre gets three more beds, and the Vernonbased Turning Points Collaborative society has funding for eight more beds.

Provincewide, the government is spending $13 million to supply 14 organizations with more than 100 publicly-funded beds to help people recover from drug and alcohol addictions.

Just under half will be new spaces, while the rest will be converted from private-pay beds to fully funded public ones for people who cannot afford to pay for treatment and to help cut wait times for public treatment.