'A lot of interest' for HART hubs, Ontario health minister says, as Sanguen Health urges rethink

There is "a lot of interest" from communities to host Homelessness and Addictions Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs funded by the province, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said Thursday, even as Sanguen Health urges the government to preserve existing treatment sites.

The HART hubs are meant to replace consumption and treatment services (CTS) locations, which are slated to close next year. The province has made it illegal to operate CTS sites within a certain distance to schools and child care spaces and those deemed to be too close cannot move and reopen in another area of the community.

Jones announced in August that the province would set aside $378 million to run 19 HART Hubs — 10 are expected to open by the end of March.

Of the 10 sites that will be affected by the new rules, five are in Toronto while one each are in Ottawa, Kitchener, Thunder Bay, Hamilton and Guelph. The Government of Canada lists 23 safe consumption sites in Ontario on its website.

At a news conference at the hospital in Palmerston, Ont., on Thursday, CBC News asked the minister whether treatment beds at those 10 sites would be fully operational by that time, but she did not address the issue in her response.

Jones did not directly answer the question.

"We are actually assessing the HART hub applications currently. There was a lot of interest from, not only our municipal partners, municipal leaders like the City of Guelph who say that they are embracing the HART hub model," Jones said.

"We have to do better. We have to give people hope that there is a pathway out of addictions and part of that is absolutely the model that we are moving forward with."

On Friday, a spokesperson for her office said, "the sites, including the social and supportive services they offer, will be operational when they open ... by end of March."

According to Jones, the HART hub model is about bringing together many different organizations that often already work in the community, so that they can assist people in need of drug treatment and recovery services.

The HART hubs won't have supervised consumption services and won't be a place where people can access a safe drug supply or drug testing.

CTS must co-exist with treatment options: Sanguen Health

On Friday, Sanguen Health called on the Ontario government to consider an approach that preserves and recognizes the importance of life-saving harm reduction services while building toward the integration and treatment pathways envisioned by the HART model.

Julie Kalbfleisch, director of communications for Sanguen Health, said harm reduction services like CTS must co-exist with treatment options, not be replaced by them.

"The minister's emphasis on 'giving people hope' through the HART hub model is commendable, but it's important to note that the current CTS model already provides hope to thousands," Kalbfleisch wrote in an email. 

"It offers safety, dignity, and the chance to connect with care in a way that meets people where they are," she added.

"The Kitchener CTS, for example, has safely managed over 1,000 overdoses with no fatalities — a profound testament to the impact of harm reduction. For many, CTS is the only space where they feel seen, supported, and safe."

Kalbfleisch says hope comes in many forms, and for many, it starts with simply staying alive and being treated with dignity. 

"Harm reduction is not meant to solve the housing and homelessness crisis or the mental health and addictions crisis — that's the work of policy-makers and elected officials," she said. 

"What harm reduction does is save lives, and it must remain a cornerstone of any comprehensive strategy to address the opioid crisis."

Supervised consumption sites allow people to inject, snort or otherwise take drugs under supervision to reduce the risk of overdose.

Earlier this week health advocates in Guelph and Kitchener warned the closure of local CTS will lead to the deaths of scores of people.

"The CTS is a place where people can come to feel safe and accepted. That is a huge step on the path to creating trusting relationships," said Ingrid Ohls, consumption and treatment service support co-ordinator at Guelph Community Health Centre.

"For a lot of people, it's the first step to feeling safe enough to seek out health care."

Ohls said many of the people who visit the consumption and treatment services site in downtown Guelph "tell us they are feeling hopeless" knowing that soon these services will no longer be available.

"Without the CTS, emergency rooms and ambulances will deal with the overflow. Without the CTS, people will die — and these deaths are preventable."