London's first temporary overdose prevention site is expected to open its doors in the downtown next month.
Middlesex London Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie announced Friday that the city has received the go-ahead from the province to open the site within the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC) office at 186 King St. Mackie said it was a day of "mixed emotions" as the six-month provincial approval came in the same week that three Londoners died of suspected overdoses.
"We did lose someone who is really close to this movement earlier this week and it has really affected a lot of us. It's been a really bittersweet moment to be making this announcement," said Mackie.
A memorial candle, to honour lives lost, was lit moments before health officials unveiled the location of the temporary site. The RHAC office is a spot already familiar to those who use injection drugs, as it currently houses a needle exchange program.
"People who come through our door, meet some staff who are familiar to them, that don't judge them, that are there to help them in the moment," said Brian Lester, RHAC executive director. "We have a really strong reputation within the drug using community. They know that RHAC is a safe place to come and get supports."
The province kicked in $130,700 in funding for the temporary site, which will allow those who use injection drugs to do so in an environment supervised by health care workers in order to prevent overdose deaths. Frontline workers from other local agencies, including Addiction Services of Thames Valley, the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre, and London CAReS, will be onsite each week.
Dr. Chris Mackie, Mayor Matt Brown, and Brian Lester
Mayor Matt Brown was quick to throw his support behind the temporary facility.
"People are dying. This is one way that we can address that immediately," said Brown. "London had the third highest number of opioid poisoning in the country last year. We have an increasing HIV rate and Hepatitis C rate when across the province it is declining. This is about harm reduction."
RHAC has to complete some minor construction to make room for the temporary site but hopes it can officially open the doors February 12. Once open, the site, dubbed TOPS, would operate Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 4pm. People using the services will enter through a separate entrance at the back of the building.
"This sort of service needs to respect businesses that rely on foot traffic and so by having the entrance in the back of the building we have helped to reduce the impact that this might have on some of the businesses and residents of the community," said Mackie.
He also said London has a big city drug problem in a mid-size city and noted this site is not a cure-all.
"This is a small piece of the puzzle, it will save some lives but the reality is there are underlying economic and social issues that are behind this epidemic," said Mackie. "We're seeing fentanyl come into our community much hard than it has in the past and we are going to see more deaths. So this is part of the picture but we need shifts in a whole range of services and other parts of the community to really end this epidemic."
London was able to apply to open the temporary site when the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced an expanded response to Ontario’s opioid drug crisis last December.
"Acting on the thoughtful advice and recommendations from Ontario's Opioid Emergency Task Force, which includes front-line harm reduction workers, people with lived experience, and community health providers, as well as other essential partners, Ontario was able to move quickly to develop this new overdose prevention site program," Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins said in a statement. "Overdose prevention sites have proven to save lives by offering easy-to-access, stigma-free health services to some of the most vulnerable and marginalized individuals in our communities."
Since the start of the year, London police have been called to five suspected drug overdose deaths.
The Middlesex London Health Unit is continuing its effort to get approval for one or more permanent supervised consumption facilities within the city.
