Federal approval has been granted to London to establish the city's first two permanent drug consumption facilities, local public health officials announced Thursday.
The Middlesex London Health Unit and Regional HIV/AIDS Connection were notified late Wednesday afternoon that their applications for permanent sites at 446 York St. and 241 Simcoe St. had been rubber-stamped by Health Canada. Approval was also given for the continued operation of the Temporary Overdose Prevention Site (TOPS) on King Street until the York Street facility is up and running.
"This is a really, really positive development," said Dr. Chris Mackie, medical officer of health and CEO with the Middlesex-London Health Unit. "We were concerned about having to have a break in service at some point, which would really break the trust with our clients. That is not going to happen."
Dr. Chris Mackie
Since the temporary site was opened in February, there have been more than 8,300 client visits, 40 overdose reversals, 186 referrals to addiction treatment, 144 referrals for housing, and 167 clients referred to additional health care services. The site is said to far surpass anything else in health care when it comes to its cost-effectiveness, according to Mackie.
"We have spent less than $200,000 of provincial money on this site, we've reversed over 40 overdoses - that means less than $5,000 per overdose," said Mackie. "So if you think about how much you would pay to save a family member's life, $5,000 seems extremely affordable."
The site at 241 Simcoe St. is a high-rise building owned by the London and Middlesex Housing Corporation, while the location at 446 York St. is currently home to a music store that sits across from Mission Services of London.
The next step to establishing the two permanent facilities will be to secure municipal zoning.
"We have the application into the municipal planning department at the City of London," said Mackie. "This is a brand new type of application, so we need to clarify that process a bit, but we hope to be moving forward within the next two to three months for sure and then the building phase which we will execute as quickly as we can."
The news of the federal approval came on the same day that Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott informed the health unit that the temporary site would continue serving clients until the end of 2018. Ensuring the temporary and permanent drug consumption sites follow the province's newly released guidelines will also be a focus of public health officials in the coming weeks.
"We have done an extensive amount of work in our original submissions that I am sure much of that will transfer into the new framework and will fill in any blanks that need to be filled in," said Brian Lester, executive director at Regional HIV/AIDS Connection. "I am very hopeful and optimistic about the next stage and the idea that there is no service interruption and we can continue doing this."
Lives would have been lost had this approval not been granted and there was a break in the current level of service being provided, Lester noted.
"When you think about the overdose reversals that we have been successfully able to do in the day-to-day service that we are offering, that wouldn't have been available so people would die," said Lester. "More people would be dying in our community if we weren't able to continue this service that is for certain."
Andy MacLean
At a news conference held Thursday morning, harm reduction outreach worker Andy MacLean, who has lived experience with drug use, told those gathered that the federal approval was a "victory for those of us who suffer from the disease of addiction."
"For most of our lives we've grown up with the belief that we are throwaways," said MacLean. "But because of all the agencies that have got together and helped make this place come true, it is proof that we have value, that we are worth something. That is such an amazing thing."
Ontario's Ford government announced a new harm-reduction model last week. In addition to requiring the facilities to offer more treatment and rehabilitation services, it changed the official terminology from "supervised consumption services" to "consumption and treatment services."
The health unit and Regional HIV/AIDS Connection applied for the permanent drug consumption facilities with Health Canada in March, five weeks after opening the temporary overdose prevention site.
The sites provide a place for people with addictions to consume narcotics under the supervision and care of medical professionals. There is also a focus on aftercare and interaction with staff who can provide clients with information regarding counselling, treatment, and housing.
