Lack of funding and staff means no overdose prevention site for North Bay
For the time being, there will be no overdose prevention site coming to North Bay.
The District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNSSAB) received grant funding to look at options for a facility.
“There’s been a lot of passionate pleas at our board meetings how that support could save lives and I think they’re valid,” said board chair Mark King.
A study was commission by DNSSAB and conducted by the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit. It concludes there is not enough funding and staff available to open such a facility and there is no lead agency to oversee operations.
Since many overdose prevention sites are implemented with a goal of applying to being a consumption and treatment facility, it wouldn’t fall under the health unit’s scope.
“The health unit‘s primary mandate is related to health promotion and prevention and less of a downstream of direct services which an overdose prevention site would be,” said Louise Gagné, the health unit’s executive director of community services.
An overdose prevention site can cost more than $800,000 to run each year. The spaces are for users to inject drugs while under trained staff supervision. Staff are on site to help if someone has an adverse reaction or overdose.
“Many overdose prevention sites are complimented by access to counselling, needle exchange, naloxone and other sorts of services,” said Gagné.
Health unit statistics show there were 19 opioid-related deaths in 2019 in the health unit’s area. That number more than doubled in both 2020 at 50 and 47 deaths in 2021.
This brings the rate of opioid related deaths to 65 per 100,000 people making the region the second highest of all medium-sized municipalities.
Whether a facility like this will ever come to the area, King said the city will just have to wait and see.
“My thought process now as the chair of DNSSAB now is that it’s a dead issue,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
'Summer of discontent': Federal unions vow to fight new 3-day a week office mandate
Federal unions are launching legal challenges and encouraging public sector workers to file "tens of thousands" of grievances over the new mandate requiring federal workers to return to the office at least three days a week in the fall.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.
'Ozempic babies': Reports of surprise pregnancies raise new questions about weight loss drugs
Numerous women have shared stories of 'Ozempic babies' on social media. But the joy some experience in discovering pregnancies may come with anxiety about the unknowns.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
'I killed four people': Trial hears video evidence of Jeremy Skibicki at Winnipeg trial
“I killed four people,” alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki told two homicide detectives during a recorded interview played as evidence in his trial Wednesday.
AstraZeneca says it will withdraw COVID-19 vaccine globally as demand dips
AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it had initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine due to a 'surplus of available updated vaccines' since the pandemic.
Seafood, eat food: Calgary Stampede releases Midway menu
The Calgary Stampede has released its menu of sweet, salty and spicy treats available on the Midway for the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.