Health unit makes the business case for permanent consumption sites
Travis Dolynny | CBC News | Posted: September 20, 2018 12:24 PM | Last Updated: September 20, 2018
Provincial funding and legal exemption for the temporary site is set to expire at the end of September
The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) has unveiled a business case for supervised consumption sites in London, Ont. as provincial funding and a federal exemption of drug prosecution laws are set to expire at the end of the month.
The business case identifies gaps in the current system and outlines their impacts. The MLHU says it presents evidence that shows how supervised consumption facilities can help reduce health care costs, improve neighbourhoods, and generate improved health outcomes, including saving lives and reducing the spread of infections like HIV.
The MLHU opened a Temporary Overdose Prevention Site (TOPS) at 186 King Street on Feb 12.
"We have already reversed over 34 overdoses. Those are people who would have easily died in a back alley or a store well, and those are just scratching the surface of the value of the service," Dr. Christopher Mackie, Medical Officer of Health and CEO of the MLHU told CBC News.
"The temporary overdose prevention site is becoming a gateway into other more life-transforming services, opening doors that definitely people would not have been ready to walk through if they hadn't had this sort of service."
Since the TOPS was opened, Dr. Mackie says there have been 150 clients connected with addiction treatments, along with a reduction in new HIV diagnoses.
"We're talking about 150 people who are among the highest-risk consumers of drugs in our community, they are people who have fallen through the cracks of the system," he said.
"They're going to this place where they build relationships, they build trust, and the staff are then able to support them to make those transitions into addiction recovery."
Seeking provincial and federal support
Both the provincial funding and the legal exemption of drug prosecution laws expire at the end of September for the TOPS at 186 King Street. The MLHU has submitted an application for legal exemption at the TOPS in London.
Dr. Mackie says a representative from the Health Canada Exemption Program will be visiting the TOPS on Tuesday, Sept 25.
"The Federal Government is responsible for the legal exemption process, they wouldn't be funding the site directly, so what we would be requiring from them is the legal exemption to keep operating," he said.
Last month, the Ontario PC government extended funding for the site, less than a week before it was set to expire on Aug 15.
Dr. Mackie met with Elliott on Aug 23 to present the business case, but there was no word on what transpired from that meeting.
"The minister was very interested in what is happening in London at the temporary overdose prevention site, very interested in what we have been able to achieve over and above the base model of supervised consumption," Dr. Mackie said.
"The Minister was interested in what the value of supervised consumption facilities were and how they benefit the community."
Minister Elliott has yet to visit the TOPS in London.
Deaths and illegal opioids on the rise in London
According to the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario, 20 deaths have been confirmed to be caused by opioid overdoses in London in the first three months of 2018, along with two probable deaths. There were 31 opioid-related deaths in 2017.
"We're on pace to double the number of deaths we've ever had in our community and we're also seeing fentanyl come more and more into the community," he said.
"Over the summer we saw more fentanyl overdoses in our temporary overdose prevention site that we were reversing, so it's possible that out in the community there were a lot more deaths over the summer. It's not going to be a good year."
Mackie says London's illicit drug market used to be dominated by diverted prescription medications, but now illegally produced fentanyl has become a lot more prevalent.
According to the Coroner's Office, 39 per cent of opioid-related deaths in London in 2017 were from fentanyl, the leading cause of opioid-related death.
Future permanent supervised consumption sites
The MLHU has applied for funding for two permanent supervised consumption sites in London, one at 446 York Street and 241 Simcoe Street.
"We're still waiting for federal approval and we're hoping that that is in place in the next few weeks," Dr. Mackie said.
An application for re-zoning those locations will also be going to the city in the near future as well. Dr. Mackie hopes the permanent sites will be up and running within the next six months.