Alberta government to close Red Deer overdose prevention site, add new recovery services
CBC
The Alberta government plans to close Red Deer's only overdose prevention site (OPS) next year and replace it with "options focused on health, wellness and recovery."
The mobile site where people can use drugs, with health workers available to respond to overdoses if necessary, has operated in Alberta's third-largest city since 2018.
The province announced Monday afternoon that once other supports are up and running, OPS operations in Red Deer are expected to stop by spring 2025.
Its removal would mark the first time an Alberta community has entirely scrapped its supervised consumption services.
Lethbridge's former supervised consumption site closed after the province cut off funding to the non-profit running it, but it was replaced by a mobile OPS. OPS Services are also available in Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie.
Alberta Health Services took over the Red Deer site from non-profit Turning Point last year, and now runs it out of a trailer in the parking lot of the Safe Harbour homeless shelter.
In addition to supervised consumption services, the Red Deer OPS also offers sterile injection supplies, drug poisoning and harm reduction education, naloxone kits and connections to substance use treatment services.
Substance use statistics reported by the province show the Red Deer OPS saw nearly 7,000 visits in the first three months of the year, with about 200 unique visitors each month.
The provincial government plans to introduce a "mobile rapid access addiction medicine clinic," in its place, operated by Recovery Alberta, the new addictions and mental health arm of the province's health system.
"With this and the new outreach services being put in place, Recovery Alberta will provide opportunities for those facing addiction and mental health issues to access support on an ongoing basis," Kerry Bales, CEO of Recovery Alberta, said in a news release.
An overdose response team made of paramedics and nurses will work in and around Safe Harbour, and "recovery coaches" will also do outreach work in the area, according to the province. The shelter will additionally get more support for its detox services.
The government is allocating $3.4 million for the work, which it says will amount to a net increase in staff and programs.
"This is a well-thought-out plan that aligns with Red Deer's needs and requests, which is why the province is making these changes and increasing support for the community," Alberta Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams said in a news release.
The pending OPS closure comes after Red Deer city council voted in favour of asking the province to phase out the site and increase other resources and medical supports.
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