Red Deer's supervised consumption site starts phasing out services

Operating hours for the Red Deer, Alta., supervised consumption site are now cut in half, as the facility moves to shut down by March.

Recovery Alberta, the agency in charge of delivering mental health and addiction services, has staffed a new clinic to serve the area during the daytime. But a local homeless shelter is launching a team to replace the gap at night.

"The key period when … overdoses happen right now are primarily in the evening and the night," said Perry Goddard, executive director of Safe Harbour, a Red Deer organization that provides services to people experiencing addiction, mental health issues and homelessness.

In February 2024, a majority on Red Deer city council voted to ask the Alberta government to close the overdose prevention site because they believed its clients are responsible for crime and disorder downtown.

Dan Williams, Alberta's minister of mental health and addictions, has worked to honour the city's request. Williams and the United Conservative Party government are against harm reduction measures like supervised consumption sites and safe supply, preferring to focus on recovery.

Recovery Alberta has staffed a mobile rapid access addiction medicine clinic, located in a modular unit in the Safe Harbour shelter's parking lot, with a registered nurse, two registered psychiatric nurses, a licensed practical nurse, an addiction counsellor and a social worker.

The clinic is currently open from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Monday to Friday. It will eventually expand to 12 hours, seven days a week.

The overdose prevention site, in a trailer outside the shelter, now operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., down from running 24/7.

Safe Harbour is overseeing a drug overdoses response team staffed with two licensed practical nurses and three paramedics, who will work overnight while the overdose prevention site is closed.

None of these new services will allow people to consume their drugs. The overdose prevention site gave users a safe place to consume their own supply, with the assurance staff would intervene if they overdosed or ingested a poisoned batch.

It's still too early to assess how well the new measures are working, given they just launched, Goddard said.

Many addictions experts say recovery is an important part of the fight against a poisoned drug supply, but it needs to work in tandem with harm reduction measures so users can stay alive until they are ready to accept treatment.

No supervision for drug users

Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, believes the government is putting paramedics and nurses in a position where they have to search for people who have overdosed.

At that point, help may come too late, he said. 

"People are still going to consume toxic substances. The only change now is they are not going to be supervised when they do it," Parker said.

Two recovery coaches from private provider Bowline Health are also assigned to work inside the Safe Harbour shelter. According to the company's website, coaches require 60 hours of training to become designated as a recovery coach professional. 

Parker is not happy that the province is using coaches as part of its response because they lack the training needed to help drug users with their trauma and psychological issues. 

"They're great at goal setting. That's their job. 'Let's work on how to get through next week,'" he said. 

"But we first have to get through how to get through the next 15 minutes and that's where the health-care professionals come in and that's where the work is."

Goddard said Parker doesn't understand the role these workers will play. 

"They work within the shelter. Their role is to engage with individuals and encourage them to recovery," he said. "They have absolutely nothing to do with overdoses."

The Alberta government is also funding four more detox beds for a 20-bed facility operated by Safe Harbour. Detox is space for people to safely withdraw from substances before moving into a recovery centre.