Ottawa’s final supervised drug consumption sites are set to close as provincial funding ends, with health workers warning of higher overdose risks.
Ottawa’s two remaining supervised drug consumption sites are preparing to close this week, ending supervised consumption services in the city as provincial funding runs out June 13.
The closures affect the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre site and Ottawa Inner City Health’s site at the Shepherds of Good Hope, known as The Trailer. Health workers, social service agencies and some people who use the sites are warning that drug use will not disappear, but will move into more dangerous and more visible places.
Barry Fyfe, who uses the Sandy Hill site once or twice a day, told CBC staff there have intervened to save his life during overdoses more than once. When the site closes, he said, people will still use drugs, only without medical supervision. “People will be begging for the services to come back,” Fyfe said.
Dean Dewar, director of consumption and treatment services at Sandy Hill, said that site will close at 6 p.m. Friday. The community health centre will continue to provide outreach, primary care, a drop-in program and safer-use supplies such as needles and pipes, but it will no longer offer supervised injection.
The closures come after more than eight years of operation for the Sandy Hill site, which opened in 2018 as Ottawa’s first permanent supervised injection site after two temporary sites. Dewar described the shutdown as a loss of health care for vulnerable clients and said staff have been preparing people for a new reality, including greater reliance on paramedics during overdoses.
Ottawa’s medical officer of health, Dr. Trevor Arnason, warned city council last month that roughly 1,750 people rely on the sites. He predicted more overdoses and added pressure on paramedics, firefighters, police and hospitals.
Doctors with Ottawa Inner City Health issued a similar warning, saying the end of supervised consumption could shift drug use into alleyways, transit stations and public washrooms, where people may be more likely to use alone. Social service leaders said they are preparing for more overdoses near shelters and youth-serving agencies.
Peter Tilley, CEO of The Ottawa Mission, said his staff have naloxone kits and training but remain deeply worried about where clients will go after the closures. John Heckbert, executive director of Operation Come Home, said organizations working with street-involved youth are bracing for people to use substances closer to service agencies in search of some degree of safety.
The closures are not universally opposed. Keith Nuthall of the Downtown Ottawa Condominium Alliance said the Sandy Hill site has contributed to fear and discomfort among residents, citing concerns about break-ins, assaults and open drug dealing since it opened. He said his organization expects the neighbourhood’s outlook to improve over time if the site no longer draws people to one area.
The office of Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones defended the funding decision, pointing to the province’s $560 million investment in Homeless and Addictions Recovery Treatment Hubs, including two planned for Ottawa. The government says those hubs will offer services such as primary care, mental health supports and supportive housing.
Dewar said those services may be difficult for some Sandy Hill clients to reach, noting the closest hub at Somerset West Community Health Centre can require a walk of nearly an hour. He also said the funding loss will affect 40 positions, particularly nursing roles, with 10 layoffs expected.
With the deadline now days away, agencies are moving from appeals to contingency planning. The immediate test will be whether remaining outreach, emergency response and treatment services can absorb people who had relied on supervised sites for daily, life-saving support.
نظرات (0)