Windsor’s HART hub application still under review

Windsor’s HART hub application still under review Windsor’s application for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment hub remains under review - CTV's Travis Fortum reports.

Windsor’s application for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub remains under review as the province announced Thursday that nine supervised drug consumption sites elsewhere in Ontario will be repurposed by March 31.

The approved locations – situated in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph, and Thunder Bay – are set to transition into HART hubs under the Ford government’s plan.

“It’s great to see that those facilities will continue to offer services to help the neighborhood and in a way that is complementary to getting people back on their feet and on the path to recovery,” said Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie.

While Windsor’s application for a HART hub wasn’t included in this announcement, Dowie called the model a step forward.

“From those that speak from lived experience, they’ve been pretty united in saying that helping someone to a path to recovery is going to have the best possible results for the individual,” he said.

The province’s decision to move away from supervised consumption sites has drawn criticism.

A December report from Ontario’s Auditor General found the shift was made without sufficient planning, impact analysis, or public consultation.

However, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare President and CEO Bill Marra has urged patience, saying the hubs need a chance to prove their effectiveness.

“We need to give these hubs an opportunity to demonstrate what impact they’ll have on services,” said Marra. “Again, this is not meant to be a criticism, because if you canvass everyone that’s involved in this debate on either side, we all want the same outcomes.”

Unlike the nine approved sites, which were already operating under provincial approval, Windsor’s SafePoint facility closed without ever securing funding.

Dowie said Windsor’s application for a HART hub is still under review and that an announcement could be made soon.

“I’m fighting tooth and nail to say how important our application is and that the services will be very welcome to our community to help those that are in need,” he said.

Dowie added that the province is working toward its goal of having all 19 HART hubs operational by April 1.