446 York Street. The site of the Consumption and Treatment Service./ Google Maps
London has seen in recent years an opioid crisis. In March, London had a total of 73 emergency department visits related to opioid use, according to Public Health Ontario. In 2019, London was named the sixth-highest city for the rate of hospitalizations due to opioid use in Canada.
It was just recently announced that the Middlesex-London Health Unit, along with London InterCommunity Health Centre and the Regional AIDS/HIV Connection was notified that the Ontario government approved the site of a new permanent Consumption and Treatment Services. This comes after years of London wanting to have a permanent site, which will be at 446 York Street.
Brian Lester, the Executive Director, explains the challenges of getting the site to London.
“There have been lots of obstacles, I would say that we’ve had to overcome to situate a permanent site in London for some of our community’s most marginalised folks,’ Lester stated. “It is a pretty amazing feeling right now, knowing that we have overcome all of the hurdles, and this is a green light, we’re moving forward.”
How come this process is just finishing now when it started back in 2018? Well, in order to build a Consumption and Treatment service site, you have to get a federal exemption. The drugs that these people are using are considered to be illegal drugs, so they needed to get an exemption. But, they also needed provincial approval of where the site is.
446 York Street is located near 2 local high schools, which was one of the reasons people were criticizing the site, including the provincial government. The government at first wasn’t going to be supporting funding for this project. But when the Minister of Health, Christine Elliot was in town earlier this year, she had gone to the site and asked questions on why the site needed to be put at 446 York. Lester reflects back on Elliot’s time here in London.
“The fact she came to London, she sat down with a number of us and asked some beneficial questions she and her staff needed to gain a better understanding of the unique issues in London and understand our needs, She heard us with open ears and open mind and, and we really appreciated that, ” Lester says. “It was a really a comprehensive engagement with us to help them make an informed decision”
Lester thinks this site will give hope to those in need of this site.
“It means that it’s a message that all lives are valuable and that marginalised people need as much support as possible, people that are struggling with addiction. This is a strong message that their lives matter,” Lester said. “It’s so important right now in this global pandemic that we’re experiencing, because of there’s just been diminished capacity for the health care system to respond.”
Lester believes that if things go to plan and renovations can begin in Spring, he hopes the site will be open for use late fall next year.
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