Still waiting for a response from the province regarding a provincial review of safe consumption sites in Ontario, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit is shutting down the SafePoint site on New Year's Day.
"Operations at SafePoint will pause starting January 1, 2024," read a statement from the health unit. "At this time, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit has not received any new updates from the province regarding expected timelines for the provincial review."
The health unit's board of directors decided to close it during its November meeting.
The province launched the review and halted approvals for new sites after the shooting of a woman near a safe consumption site in the Toronto area.
The health unit is still waiting for the province to approve the site and announce funding to operate it. It opened in April after it received the green light from the federal government.
At the time, board chair Fabio Costante called it an unfortunate but responsible decision.
"I think that not having the site open is a loss for our community," he said. "I'm concerned that in the midst of a crisis that we're under, we're closing it."
The board will get an update on the number of visits to SafePoint at its next meeting in January.
* With files from Maureen Revait.
