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By rdnewsNOW and EverythingGP staff

high acuity patients

New treatment for severe opioid addiction coming to Red Deer

Oct 12, 2022 | 3:30 PM

A new narcotic transition service will be coming to Red Deer in the next few months, the provincial government has announced.

The province says this program is for those with severe addictions who have not been able to transition using what are called Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) medications.

“In some cases, high-potency narcotics are prescribed as part of their treatment. These drugs are highly addictive, and they carry significant risks to the patients and public if diverted,” says Mike Ellis, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

This new approach will look at stabilizing and transitioning patients under medical supervision to these medications and to care meant to help in recovery, the province adds.

Ellis says part of the settlement from a class action lawsuit against opioid maker Purdue Pharma will help pay for this service.

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“This will ensure that we never forget, and we never repeat the mistakes made in the early years of the opioid crises,” he says. “Narcotic transition services are highly specialized services only for people with severe opioid addiction.”

Alberta Health Services will be the sole provider of this new service through its opioid dependency clinics, which will open by the end of January 2023 in Red Deer, as well as Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat. It is already available in Edmonton and Calgary.

The province adds the vast majority who use OAT medications are able to enter recovery.

Also updated are the Community Protection and Opioid Stewardship Standards, adding things like having a witness watch patients take their medication so it does not end up being sold on the street.

Ellis says these changes will not impact those being treated for pain.

“The Community Protection and Opioid Stewardship Standards only apply to high-risk opioids being prescribed or dispensed for severe opioid addiction,” says Ellis. “Thousands of Albertans suffer chronic pain and too many lack access to effective, evidence-based treatment.”

Ellis also announced $500,000 to create a provincial pain program. It will focus on preventing chronic pain and new virtual programs will improve access to chronic pain services.

A location for the clinic where this service will be offered is yet to be determined, AHS confirms.

While this is new for the locations announced, the province notes it is for higher acuity patients, which is different than what former and ongoing OAT services in Red Deer offer.

More on the Alberta Pain Strategy can be found here.

(with files from Curtis Galbraith/EverythingGP)