Nurse shortage closes Fredericton detox centre 'temporarily'

Horizon Health has temporarily closed its 10-bed detox unit at the Victoria Health Centre in downtown Fredericton, citing a shortage of nurses to run it.

All detox patients will be transferred to detox units in Moncton, Saint John or Miramichi, where there is space, Horizon said Friday.

Staff in the Fredericton unit will be reassigned to the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital.

Horizon would not say how long the detox centre will be closed or provide an interview to answer questions about the closure.

The temporary closure was a complete surprise to Warren Maddox, executive director of Fredericton Homeless Shelters, which works closely with the detox centre to help some of the most vulnerable people in the area.

Maddox said there is no lack of demand for patients seeking treatment. The closure is a "reallocation of resources away from something that's pretty critical to a lot of people's survival," he said.

"There's a really good potential that someone could die."

With more hard drugs showing up in the city, Maddox said the closure could leave many addicts without a lifeline.

"There are some drugs in town now that are a whole different ballgame than dealing with an opiate or an alcoholic or something like that."

The impact stretches farther than the city limits though, he said.

"When you look at the placement of detox centres around the province, by taking Fredericton out of the mix, you've just taken 200,000 of the population, Fredericton, Grand Falls, Woodstock, Florenceville, Chipman, Minto … there is an incredible need here for it."

Maddox said he's looking into other facilities people could get into to get help for their addictions. He hopes Horizon will set up some kind of transportation between the detox centres.

"It's a pretty big stretch to take somebody who's just said 'I'm ready to go to detox,' and then say 'OK, we're going to put you on a bus and send you to Saint John or Moncton. The chances of them actually making it to detox through that process are pretty slim."