Applications for Timmins' permanent overdose prevention site are sent
Officials with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Cochrane-Timiskaming said they're optimistic that a permanent overdose prevention site will be approved within the year.
Dr. Paul Jalbert, executive director for the area CMHA, said now that Timmins council has endorsed a provincially-funded supervised consumption site, applications to the provincial and federal governments have been submitted.
“We’re hopeful from Health Canada we can start a conversation after their initial review maybe six weeks from now or so and then the Ministry of Health some time after that, but also we continue the engagement work particularly with the near neighbours and with the downtown core,” said Jalbert.
“I’m hopeful that we can see something in six months but six to nine months is probably more realistic."
The temporary Safe Health Site Timmins (SHST) was opened in July and is managed by the Timmins and District Hospital.
Hospital officials said in the first six months of operation it saw more than 10,000 visits with almost half of those to consume substances on site. The other visitors were seeking a variety of other services offered at the site.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
When it becomes a permanent faculty at the Cedar Street North location, the local CMHA will run it. Jalbert said improved access to services including housing support and primary care will be offered at that time.
“As a mental health and addictions service provider, we can tie people from this harm reduction service to a treatment service just about immediately if they want to make that connection, so really seamless for the individual who’s coming in,” he said.
Porcupine Health Unit officials said a provincially-funded supervised consumption site is one part of a larger comprehensive approach with the Timmins and Area Drug Strategy to address substance use in the region.
Officials told CTV News that while SHST saves lives – so far twenty-two overdoses were reversed –it also saves money since visits to emergency room visits and paramedic response calls are more expensive.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.