Care Gateway Medical Clinic co-owner, Dr. Mohammed Mosli, stands in front of his clinic's location in downtown Red Deer. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

under new physician ownership

Downtown clinic increases wraparound services for people experiencing addiction

Jun 10, 2022 | 4:50 PM

A doctor-owned clinic in downtown Red Deer is trying to shift the tide of an ongoing wave of deaths in the community caused by drug poisonings.

Last week, the Province released new data showing 120 opioid-related deaths occurred provincially this March, down from 175 in December – a clear sign of optimism, the province concluded – and rightfully so.

In Red Deer, however, the death count from opioids alone was seven in March, up from three in December, matching a four-year high for opioid deaths in a month.

Dr. Mohammed Mosli, former medical health officer with Alberta Health Services, recently took ownership of what’s been re-branded as Care Gateway Medical Clinic (5209 50 Avenue). He and two other physicians, took the reins of the clinic – formerly ACT Medical — on April 1, after four years of non-physician ownership.

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Mosli has a theory for why Red Deer is feeling the brunt of the drug poisoning crisis.

“Whenever looking at numbers, the first thing questioned is how reflective they are. Numbers from the ministry are very reliable,” he believes. “Over the past three to six months, there have been observations by organizations which test substances used on the streets, and what they’re seeing are new substances more potent than what we’ve seen before.”

A couple years ago, he notes, the emerging substance was carfentanil, said to be 100-times stronger than fentanyl.

“We’re seeing more scary substances which are not only more potent, they’re of a different category of chemicals, which are unfortunately not easily reversed by naloxone, and I think that’s the major reason we’re seeing more deaths here.”

Recently, he explains, multiple doses of naloxone are needed, whereas one would normally suffice.

A bevy of services

Care Gateway now offers people experiencing addiction a wider variety of wraparound services than any former version of the clinic did.

That means the three owning doctors will be on-site and at a second location in Wetaskiwin, but in Red Deer, several other doctors will be present, specializing in women’s health, youth mental health, learning disabilities, smoking cessation, behavioural therapy, Hepatitis C management, HIV PREP, and of course, addictions and mental health consulting, among other things.

“When someone comes in and needs help because of their addiction challenges, we treat them as human. We make sure those people have the best chance at recovery and maintaining wellbeing,” says Mosli.

“We also work with community partners so when we cannot help, for instance if someone needs a health number, drug coverage, income support or even a prosthetic so they can function, we know where to send them, and can help them navigate the system. It’s more than just giving medicine and hoping they get better.”

Dr. Nesrin Yakout, co-owner along with Mosli and Dr. Lucas Gursky, says the entire community must remember that addiction is a disease.

“We stand up for patients and their quality of life; we want to keep them here, with dignity and support. Mental health problems, trauma, which leads to depression, is a disease, but it’s curable,” says Yakout, a primary care physician for 30+ years. “We support with counselling, medicine, care and community understanding. It’s not right to keep rushing people out the door, or to insult or judge them by saying things like, ‘You did that to yourself,’ and, ‘You don’t deserve treatment or to take my time.'”

An alliance focused on preventing deaths

This is part of a grander plan to create an alliance of Red Deer organizations who see the benefits of collaboration, and of advocating for all four pillars: harm reduction, treatment, enforcement and prevention.

Mosli says if a patient can get from Point A to Point B, then the four pillars are working in harmony, and are all achievable.

“If you can achieve prevention, you’ve gone a long way towards fixing the problem. Prevention comes through education, for those experiencing addiction, and those around them. Addiction is a disease, not moral failure,” he says. “Every single person is either actively asking for help or passively hoping someone will help. Anyone struggling with this disease hates it, so if we’re able to open doors, lower barriers and provide care to people before they overdose, that’ll be our biggest achievement.”

Mosli says community partners such as the 49 Street Clinic, Primary Care Network, Safe Harbour, Red Deer Dream Centre, AHS, City of Red Deer and Turning Point have a collective and critical role to play.

“We work closely with a lot of other service providers, such as the virtual opioid dependency program, and this is just another great resource to add to Red Deer,” says Stacey Carmichael, Turning Point executive director. “We need to continue to evolve and adapt, and meet the needs of the community, because that community isn’t going to meet the needs of us clearly, and that’s where we’ll see some really positive change.”

Since the ownership change, people coming through Gateways’s door have increased substantially, and to as high as 35 on Fridays, something Mosli believes is because the clinic is now doctor-owned.

Turmoil with former clinic ownership

As first reported by rdnewsNOW sister newsroom, CHAT News Today, on June 9, the doors to ACT Medical in Medicine Hat closed suddenly this week.

According to Mosli, the owner, who again is not a physician, and therefore is not subject to certain provincial regulations related to shutting down, has returned to B.C.

Mosli, who was a doctor for ACT Medical before taking ownership, believes this is causing closures in ACT’s other cities, including Calgary, Lethbridge and Grande Prairie. This has not been confirmed with the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA).

ACT’s parent company is Levitee Clinics, which has not returned calls from CHAT News Today.

The CPSA says it is working with the Medicine Hat clinic’s leadership and AHS to ensure patients get the care they need.

READ MORE: ‘I don’t know what to do’: Patients, staff left hanging amid abrupt closure of methadone clinic