Hospitals say no to consumption sites

Report going to regional council also drops one of the proposed sites in Cambridge

WATERLOO REGION — Waterloo Region’s three hospitals are off the table as possible sites for supervised consumption services.

One of the Cambridge sites was also dropped from the candidate list in a report going to regional council on Tuesday.

Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital each sent a letter to the region stating that they couldn’t host a consumption and treatment services site.

“All three have said they don’t have the space,” said Grace Bermingham, manager of harm reduction with the region.

The hospitals came up as potential sites at a council committee meeting in December, and staff were directed to look into the feasibility. Bermingham said they met with hospital administrators to talk about the region’s vision for the sites and space requirements.

“I think it was really important to follow that through, ask the questions and have a

definitive answer,” Bermingham said.

Cambridge Memorial said it had “significant impending space constraints” due to its current redevelopment. Grand River and St. Mary’s also both noted that they were not in the immediate area of high drug use in the downtown core and they don’t offer other supports.

Coun. Elizabeth Clarke, chair of the community services committee, said she’s relieved that the hospitals bowed out because research and focus groups have shown it’s not the ideal place to have the services.

“I think it’s important we did that work because it was going to remain a question from the community,” Clarke said. “I think that frees us up to move forward.”

The 149 Ainslie St. location in Cambridge was crossed off the list of candidate locations endorsed in August. The working group has since then taken a closer look at the sites and how they fit with the model.

“It became clear that site had some challenges,” Bermingham said. “It really just came down to the layout of the space.”

It’s a large space all on one floor, making it difficult to adequately separate the different-use areas while providing a separate entrance and exit.

“The remaining sites appear to be feasible,” Bermingham said.

Those are 115 Water St. N., 150 Duke St. W. and 105 Victoria St. N. in Kitchener, and 150 Main St. in Cambridge.

The Main Street site is located in Cambridge’s interim bylaw banning a site in the city’s three core areas.

That bylaw was key to the region’s hospitals being put forward as possible sites. Cambridge Mayor Kathryn McGarry warned at the last committee meeting that city councillors didn’t plan to remove the bylaw, and that the two Cambridge locations currently on the table wouldn’t work if the Bridges shelter in Galt’s core moves.

Clarke said that while the Main Street site is within the bylaw area, it’s a bit removed.

“That might make it a little more palatable for people,” she said.

Clarke is pleased to see the process going ahead again, after council hit the pause button in August to wait on the provincial government’s review of the program.

“I’m excited to get moving forward with something we’ve been working on for a long time, and I think some people say too long,” she said.

The report also recommends submitting a letter of intent to apply to the province for consumption and treatment services, basically to let the ministry know about the work the region has been doing on this since June 2017.

“It’s just to give notice about where we are,” Bermingham said.

The next step, if the report is approved by council, is community consultations. The region will host sessions that are invitation-only for close neighbours and others open to the public, along with an online survey.

Public sessions are scheduled for Feb. 5 and 7 in Kitchener, and Jan. 31 and Feb. 4 in Cambridge. The locations and times have not yet been determined.

“We want to make sure we’re hearing from the whole community as much as possible,” Bermingham said.

The estimated annual operating cost of a site is about $700,000 to $800,000, on top of capital costs. Those range from about $230,000 to renovate a property to nearly $1.2 million to build.

Plan B is to apply to the federal government for approval to open a site, an option Health Canada said it would allow in December after the province announced it would limit the number of sites to 21.

However, Clarke said federal permission doesn’t come with funding, and that would likely mean a scaled-down version.

“That’s why we certainly would like to get (provincial) funding.”