Vancouver Island residents struggling with addiction now have better access to treatment and recovery beds closer to home.
On Thursday, the province announced it is spending $8 million on 40 publicly funded substance-use beds for the south and mid-Island.
There are 15 beds at Cedars Recovery in Cobble Hill, 10 beds at Edgewood Treatment Centre in Nanaimo, five beds at Homewood Ravensview in North Saanich and 10 Indigenous-focused beds at Kackaamin Family Development Centre in Port Alberni.
There is no charge for the beds, which are expected to help about 200 people a year.
“We are in a real crisis in our province,” said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “We are losing thousands of B.C. residents to the toxic drug supply … I can’t overstate the impact of the devastation of the toxic drug crisis on communities across the province. We’re working hard to do everything we can to save people’s lives, to connect people to care.”
People who call for help need to be met with quality care close to home, said the minister.
These are the first publicly-funded treatment services of their kind on Vancouver Island, said Leah Hollins, Island Health board chair. In the past, people had to travel to the Lower Mainland for this level of intensive treatment.
“This represents a significant expansion and investment in substance-use services for clients experiencing dependence on substances including, but not limited to, alcohol or opioids,” said Hollins.
The length of treatment ranges from 50 to 90 days, depending on the individual and program. After treatment, people can participate in a nine-to-12-month virtual program for continued support in their recovery.
The government is planning to add more than 100 publicly funding treatment beds across B.C., some of which will be on Vancouver Island, said Whiteside, adding that includes an application from New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Centre in View Royal for funding for a women’s only treatment centre.
“I’m looking forward to having news for that in the fairly short term.”
The treatment beds are operated by a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit providers. The beds are available for people in the Island Health region with a referral from a health professional. People can sign up by contacting the health authority’s mental health and substance use service line at 1-888-885-8824.
Brian Coyle, a former client of Cedars Recovery, told reporters he went to treatment eight or nine times.
“You hear it all the time that there will be people who are ready to get treatment or get help, but then they’re told they’ll have to wait a month or two before something opens up,” Coyle said. “Some of those times I was able to get in quite soon, other times not.”
Until there are more beds available, people will always be waiting, he said.
“And with the way the opioid crisis is right now, I don’t even know how you would tackle that just because the number is so large of how many people are addicted to opiates and dying every day,” said Coyle.
