Interior Health to get 73 new substance use treatment beds
Sixteen beds will be used for supporting people going through withdrawal
People in B.C.'s interior recovering from substance use will soon have access to 73 additional treatment beds that will be distributed throughout the Interior Health region.
"We're looking at this as a great shot in the arm for our services," said David Harrhy, Interior Health executive director for mental health and substance use.
"We currently have 121 beds for substance use treatment in the interior, and so to increase our net package if you will by another 73 in such a short period of time is a massive boost."
Harrhy told Daybreak South host Chris Walker that the beds should be operational in just over a year.
Beds for withdrawal, recovery
Sixteen of the 73 beds will be dedicated to supporting adults and youth through the early stages of withdrawal from alcohol and other substances.
The other 57 are support recovery beds for those awaiting residential treatment, returning from treatment or transitioning to a more stable lifestyle.
"We know that for people with complex substance use issues — which are often joined with complex mental health issues — they're often quite marginalized, their ability to maintain stable housing situations or stable jobs is really compromised as a result of their challenges," Harrhy said.
The exact locations of the beds have yet to be determined, but they will be distributed throughout interior B.C. communities as following:
- Thompson Cariboo: 12 support recovery beds and four adult withdrawal management beds
- Central Okanagan: nine support recovery beds and four youth withdrawal management beds
- South Okanagan: 10 support recovery beds
- North Okanagan: six support recovery beds
- Kootenay Boundary: eight support recovery beds and eight adult withdrawal management beds
- East Kootenay: eight support recovery beds
- Interior Health-wide: four support recovery beds provided by an Aboriginal organization
The new beds are part of a provincial initiative to add 500 additional substance use spaces throughout B.C. by 2017.
With files from CBC's Daybreak South
To hear the full story listen to the audio labelled: Interior Health communities to receive more than 70 substance use treatment beds