B.C. is spending millions on drug recovery treatment. This facility shows what that treatment could look like

When someone first steps into Together We Can's recovery centre in East Vancouver, they are greeted at an intake office with a hug.

Then they are told they are loved, and a solution is possible.

After a medical assessment, clients are given a room in a men's-only residential treatment home. They are also given a peer group and encouraged to participate in group and one-on-one counselling sessions.

"We're more than willing to love you until you can love yourself," said Stacy Wilson, executive director at Together We Can, licensed under Vancouver Coastal Health.

"Part of that is comfort — comfort in a bed, comfort in a home, comfort with your peers."

The services are examples of drug addiction treatments the B.C. government says more people will be able to access with new funding. 

Advocates also hope the funding will help shrink wait lists to get more people into treatment more quickly.

$586 million in spending

According to B.C.'s Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, as of September 2022, there were 3,260 publicly-funded beds across the province for adult and youth struggling with substance use.

Now more are on the way, with the province set to spend more than $1 billion to expand mental health and addiction services over the next three years.

A total of $586 million will go towards supporting people with substance-use-related illnesses and creating a new model of care, including 100 new publicly-funded treatment and recovery beds with no out-of-pocket fees, and a new model of "seamless care" with 95 beds to support people throughout the entire recovery process, also not requiring out-of-pocket fees.

Millions will also be invested in expanding the treatment model at Coquitlam's Red Fish Healing Centre across the province, which features a more trauma-informed approach.

'Best decision I ever made'

Braydon Gilkes, 29, is receiving treatment at Together We Can, which typically lasts between 60 and 90 days.

"Being here has been the best decision I ever made in my life," said Gilkes, who grew up in a loving family but has grappled with anxiety and negative self-talk.

Using drugs, he says, brought him out of his shell.

In and out of recovery since he was 24, Gilkes came to Together We Can through his employer after a downward spiral fuelled by cocaine and alcohol.

He has been sober for close to three months and says the program has him asking the right questions.

"You start looking into your past and start clearing out the wreckage of your past," he said. "Working the program is keeping your side of the street clean." 

Hopes for shortened wait lists

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry recently told CBC News that B.C. has a long way to go in terms of policies to stop the flood of toxic drug deaths.

That includes reforming the treatment and recovery system, which is not subject to provincial regulation; ensuring facilities are using evidence-based methods; and employing qualified staff.

"We have no system," Henry said. "There's never been a system to understand who's in there, how well they do, how often people relapse."

Wilson says there is room for improvement within the system, but licensed facilities like Together We Can have processes in place, and they track and make data available on a quarterly basis. Many staff at the centre, he adds, are in recovery themselves.

He describes their model as a hybrid, working with Vancouver Coastal Health — the centre, which also provides transitional housing and after-care initiatives, offers pro-bono and subsidized treatment through the health authority — and "private pay" clientele, such as employers, insurance agencies and Veterans Affairs Canada.

Private treatment in B.C. can be costly, he says, ranging from $9,000 to $15,000 a month.

The mental health and addictions ministry says it is reviewing the impact of fees on access to treatment.

Many existing beds don't have user fees, and there are no fees associated with the 195 beds recently announced, the ministry said. In the case of existing beds with fees, costs would be waived for people who can't afford it.

Reducing wait times

Together We Can has a wait list, Wilson says, and for many, the wait can take between one to three months. 

Guy Felicella with the B.C. Centre on Substance Use says he would like to see that reduced to one to two weeks.

"We need a quicker response, we need an easier access approach," Felicella said.

Wilson says there is a place for everyone on the continuum of care.

"The bottom line is we have a toxic drug supply. People are dying," said Wilson.

"There's a place for harm reduction, there's a place for addiction treatment, and there's a place for recovery and they're all interconnected."