Temporary overdose prevention site planned for Red Deer

“Every single one of those numbers represents a person who should still be alive today and whose life was lost too soon,” Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman told rdnewsNOW. “Red Deer seems to be one of the hot spots in the province right now and that, of course, is heartbreaking for the people impacted by this, and I think for the community as well.”

Hoffman says the plan for Red Deer is a temporary site, not a mobile site, located at Safe Harbour Society and operated by Turning Point until a more permanent solution can be found.

She says the overdose issue is a complex one that requires a four-pronged approach, including law enforcement, harm reduction including supervised consumption services, treatment and prevention.

“Today we have 247 people in Red Deer and area who are accessing opioid dependency treatment that was not available a year ago in the community or in the region,” states Hoffman. “When we’ve had conversions with folks who work in harm reduction and work with folks who are using illicit substances today, they talked about how we’ve been able to live in a number of communities with supervised consumption services to reduce some of the risks. We haven’t been there yet with Red Deer.”

Hoffman says the province will continue working to bring supervised consumption to communities where it’s needed.

“It’s important to us that these folks who are dying have the opportunity to live another day,” says Hoffman. “We’re moving very quickly and we’ll be happy to give you updates when it gets a little bit closer to being on site and being ready to open. But we are hoping to have this open very, very soon because we know every day that goes by is another lost opportunity to save a life.”

As far as Red Deer Regional Hospital being a potential overdose prevention site, Hoffman says the committee spearheading the initiative doesn’t see it as a viable option for several reasons.

“The biggest [reason] the committee is looking at is who the folks that are most in-need and where they are. Also, how do we make sure that we have resources closer to them, rather than asking them to come to somewhere where they’re not.”

Turning Point Executive Director Stacey Carmichael says they decided as a group that a temporary location at Safe Harbour would be better than waiting for a permanent site given the urgency of the current situation.

“There was an Atco trailer that was retrofitted to be used as a temporary supervised consumption site while they renovated the Sheldon Chumir Centre in Calgary,” says Carmichael. “So they’re going to be bringing that up to Red Deer and locating it in Safe Harbour parking lot and we’re going to be using it as our main service area until we can find a permanent location.”

Carmichael says a temporary site has limitations but will have an immediate impact on the community as they work toward a permanent one.

“In the meantime, we are really committed to working towards an appropriate location where we can operate a robust service that includes wrap-around supports and more opportunities for folks who are going to use it.”

Carmichael says Safe Harbour has been approved by city council for a mobile site, but is unsure at this time whether the temporary trailer meets those criteria.

“Kath Hoffman (Executive Director, Safe Harbour Society) and I have talked and we’re going to be engaging the community for sure,” adds Carmichael. “We’re going to make sure that folks know what’s going on, there will be some kind of community consultation.”

She adds the group that’s been working on the temporary overdose prevention site will also continue working on the permanent solution she hopes can be up and running within a year.

“We’ve identified a few different spots that we think might work and receive council approval,” says Carmichael. “I can’t say right at this time for sure what they are but we’re working towards it. It’s going to take some time to go through the acquisitions and the development permits and approvals and that type of thing and quite frankly, given the state of our community, we can’t wait for that.”

Carmichael acknowledges the controversy within the community regarding this type of service but points out it is backed up by good research and evidence.

“I hope that our community will just give us a chance to get this going. They’ll reap the benefits of it for sure when we are operating, the whole community, not just the folks who use the service. Let’s be optimistic and say we’ll be up and running by the first of October.”

In total, 355 people have died from an apparent accidental opioid overdose in Alberta in 2018, an average of two individuals per day.

Red Deer has seen 37 accidental opioid overdose (including drugs other than fentanyl) so far this year, according to Carmichael.

by Sheldon Spackman

Temporary overdose prevention site planned for Red Deer

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