B.C. to provide more addiction and mental health services in Interior region
CBC
The B.C. government announced more mental health and substance use services for Kamloops and the Okanagan region this week, following the province's release of illicit drug death data last week.
On Monday, the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said it will work with Interior Health to add four new mental health and substance use services, expand four others, and recruit 19 full-time workers to provide mental health support services in Vernon and surrounding communities.
On Tuesday, the ministry said it will work with Kelowna-based non-profit Bridge Youth and Family Services Society to provide 22 new adult beds for substance use treatment, as well as with Interior Health and B.C. Housing to provide complex care housing in Kamloops and Kelowna for people living with mental health and substance use issues.
The province said some of these new services will be available as early as next month.
These announcements were made after the B.C. Coroners Service said Friday that 207 people died in January due to toxic substances, which reflects the third-highest number of drug overdose fatalities in a calendar month.
The latest data shows there have been notable increases in smaller- and medium-sized communities. Kamloops and Kelowna recorded 11 and eight deaths respectively in January, making them two of the top five municipalities affected by illicit drug toxicity.
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson says the province is trying to provide support at every intersection with the addiction and mental health services announced this week.
"There isn't any one path into addiction," she said Tuesday on CBC's Daybreak South. "We're adding substance use support across the continuum."
Out of the 22 new adult treatment beds offered in Kelowna, 13 will be dedicated to detox and nine for transition and stabilization care. The B.C. government says these beds, an addition to the existing 3,200 publicly-funded treatment beds across the province, are part of the $500 million investment on addiction care promised in the budget announced last month.
"We're trying to patch all these holes in the system and we aren't all the way there yet, but we're working hard every day," Malcolmson said.
On Thursday, the B.C. Coroners Service released a report calling on the province to develop a policy to distribute a safer supply of drugs and offer better health support, with a plan that would see action taken within the next 90 days.
Jessica Lamb, who works with drug user advocacy group Ankors in the Kootenays, said while this recommendation gives her some hope, there are very few health professionals available in her region who can prescribe safe supply to users.
"If these were implemented in our communities, I do believe that the death toll would would change or go down," said Lamb on CBC's Daybreak South.
Malcolmson says the province won't give people the false hope of a quick turnaround, but it feels the urgency to fix the problem.
The NDP leadership race could be turning into a nail-biter with no clear winner in sight. But it's unclear if Canadians are tuning in.
As the prime minister gears up to visit China, his parliamentary secretary, MP Kody Blois, says Mark Carney would like to "recalibrate" Canada's once-frosty relationship with the Chinese government and look at economic opportunities for the two nations.
Ontario appears set to push ahead with a ban on declawing cats and debarking and ear cropping dogs, a move animal welfare advocates say is years overdue and doesn’t go far enough.
If you’ve ever wanted to groove to music while drinking coffee, the Kitchener Downtown BIA has you covered this winter.
Iranian Montrealers rallied in the downtown core Saturday afternoon in a show of support for the people of Iran.
A Manitoba judge says Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie must reconsider granting permits to a company that's no longer allowed to take tourists to see polar bears in large tundra vehicles east of Churchill.
Some people from a northern Saskatchewan reserve were left without phone landline and internet services for weeks, and wonder why it took so long for SaskTel to address the issue.
Alberta’s rate cap is deepening financial losses in the province's auto insurance market, industry experts say, as a new report found auto insurers lost more than $1.2 billion in 2024.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says an atmospheric river will take aim at British Columbia's south coast this weekend as heavy rain continues to batter the north coast.
Islanders packed into the temporary location for the Charlottetown Farmers' Market Saturday, marking the first day operating on North River Road in the former Sporting Intentions space.
More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in Richmond Hill, Ont., Saturday to show solidarity to protesters in Iran, fighting against the country’s financial collapse and the regime that led to it.
The City of Toronto began its first pothole repair blitz of the year Friday with crews working to fill potholes across the city overnight and into Saturday.
One of the best gifts Cameron Eckert got for Christmas was a sighting of four white-tailed ptarmigan.