‘This is going to help people’: North Bay’s new addictions treatment centre set to open next summer
The Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence coming to North Bay is a step closer to becoming a reality. It will be located in the old Farquhar Chrysler Dealership on Lakeshore Drive.
This planned facility will act as a treatment centre for people suffering from mental health and addictions. The centre will consist of 24 addictions treatment beds, nine withdrawal services beds and 20 supportive treatment beds.
"We keep putting initiatives in place but new drugs just keep coming in on the streets,” said Pat Cliche the chair for the Community Drug Strategy North Bay and Area.
“So yes, this is going to help those people that really want to be helped."
In February, the Ontario Government announced an investment of $6.84 million for 53 new addictions treatment beds to address the ongoing mental health and addictions crisis the city is facing.
"As part of my work, I’ve read a lot of studies that show that if you're going to support people, you need to support them where they live and when you don't they go looking for help elsewhere,” said Ontario’s Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo.
The centre has suffered from a few delays. It was hoped it would be open a year and a half ago. Issues with the pandemic and supply chain slowed it down.
"The plans are finished. We have a lot of the materials here. Now it's all about starting in earnest with the renovations,” said George Burton, the president and CEO of Canadore College.
The challenge, once open, will be finding staff and getting them adequately trained. That's where Canadore College comes in. The school will manage the treatment centre and will work to train the staff.
"We hope to have our staff on board by the end of March. That'll give us a couple of months of team forming and look at the model of care," said Burton.
Tibollo said it was an easy decision to partner with the post-secondary institution..
"Because of its excellent programs in nursing and addictions treatments,” he stated. “These are going to be the leaders of the future."
The centre's first entourage of staff will be made up of a team of 14. The college will look at ways to incorporate some of its programs into the centre so students can get a hands-on experience at the site, working with patients.
"It's something that we have needed for a long time,” said Cliche.
The centre is slated to open in the summer of 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.