Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) is bracing for a potential increase in the number hospital visits related to opioid addictions and overdoses across the region.
CKHA President and CEO Lori Marshall said hospital officials are planning for that in the event it happens. Public Health Ontario recently reported a sharp increase in opioid overdose deaths in 2020. Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said opioid deaths have been trending up over the past two or three years and the problem has been accentuated since the start of the pandemic.
"Mental health and addictions is likely to figure very prominently in our hospital's next strategic plan that we're working on right now. So, we'll be looking to see how we can respond to this increasing need in the future," said Marshall.
Colby said the health unit has already introduced some programs to deal with opioid overdoses and continues to work on more. He said the Naloxone program has been expanded to the general public to quickly prevent opioid overdoses. Naloxone is a medication used to counter the effects of opioid overdose.
Colby added 80 per cent of people dependent on opioids became hooked with prescribed opiates from legitimate doctors and there are education initiatives underway across the board to improve prescribing practices to get fewer people dependent on opioids.
The rate of emergency department visits in Chatham-Kent due to opioid overdoses was almost double the provincial rate last year. Public Health Ontario reported 126 opioid-related visits to the emergency department in Chatham-Kent in 2020 and 13 local deaths linked to opioid overdoses.
A report prepared for various health agencies, including Public Health Ontario showed that 2,426 people died of a confirmed or suspected opioid-related death in Ontario last year, representing a 60 per cent increase compared to the year prior.
The authors of the report cited many reasons for this increase, including the likelihood of a volatile and unregulated drug supply, changing access to health care services and community-based programs and supports for people who use drugs, early release of people from prisons, increased isolation due to public health measures to limit COVID-19 transmission, and changing patterns of substance use that have been attributed to increased anxiety during the pandemic.
