There's a new walk-in addictions clinic in Sioux Lookout — at both the hospital and emergency shelter

A new Rapid Access Addictions Medicine Clinic has opened in Sioux Lookout, Ont., with a dual location designed to make people feel more comfortable accessing services.

Known as a RAAM clinic, these spaces offer addictions services to people looking for help in managing substance use. No appointments are needed in advance.

In Sioux Lookout, the clinic, which opened in early June, operates at both the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre's (SLMHC) Mental Health and Addiction Program and at the Sioux Lookout Emergency Shelter.

"I think that logistically it makes sense because individuals accessing the emergency shelter often feel that they face a lot of stigma accessing care through the hospital or perhaps don't feel comfortable going there," said Dr. Justin Bell, SLMHC's chief of mental health and addictions.

"We wanted to make sure that some of the people that needed the service the most were getting the service delivered to them where they were staying," he said.

While RAAM clinics originated in southern Ontario, more have been opening across northwestern Ontario, including in Thunder Bay, Kenora, Dryden and Fort Frances, said Bell.

"We were kind of grabbing on to the momentum of the other communities doing this." 

Filling service gaps

Sioux Lookout, roughly 400 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, has a history of addiction services that have come and gone due to staffing shortages, COVID-19 and other challenges. There was previously a place that functioned similarly to a RAAM clinic, but it closed just before the pandemic, said Bell. It's hoped the RAAM clinic will fill that gap.

As a hub for 30 remote First Nations, thousands of people travel to Sioux Lookout for medical care and social services.

"[They] often have restricted access to medical resources [where they live] because of the remoteness of the area, and so it's really important that a clinic like this exists so that it can act as a safety net for people that want help, but don't really have the immediately accessible resources otherwise to get help with addiction," Bell said. 

The RAAM clinic runs on a team-based model, with a physician, two registered nurses and two other workers who may serve as counsellors or case managers. In the future, Bell would like to bring in elders and traditional healers as part of a regular program.

In smaller communities that lack the resources urban centres have, overnight shelters have increasingly become more than just a place to sleep, said Henry Wall, chief administrative officer of the Kenora District Services Board, which oversees the shelter.

While larger, long-term treatment centres take years to develop, RAAM clinics offer "an immediate response to the immediate crisis that we have in our communities," Wall said.

When looking at the need for more wraparound supports, it is important to consider circumstances that contribute to social challenges, including the continuing impact of the residential school system, said Wall.

Having individualized services that are accessible are a way to help address these harms.

"It's important to have a place where … these programs come together versus sending individuals all over a community in order to access these programs — so it's a way of bringing the supports to the person versus sending the person to the support," Wall said.

Safe sobering program in development

By the end of the year, the emergency shelter will also have 37 beds as part of a new safe sobering program, said Wall. Of the 37 beds:

• 16 will be for safe sobering.
• Six will be for detox.
• 15 will be for supportive treatment.

"[The] shelter is not just about having a safe place for people to be overnight, but also make sure that … the community is set up where we're also helping people on a healing journey, helping people to [get] sober in a safe manner, helping people with their addiction," said Wall.

The RAAM clinic is currently open Tuesdays and Thursdays — at the shelter from 8 a.m. until noon, and at the hospital from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. The clinic has seen several dozen people at the shelter already, including some repeat clients. 

An application has been submitted to Ontario Health North to advocate for more funding from the Ministry of Health to expand the clinic to five days a week and add extra staff members, including peer support workers — people with lived experience of addiction who can help others navigate the system, said Bell.