St. Joseph's Care Group prepares for site swap to expand capacity for Thunder Bay's detox program
CBC
The only withdrawal management program in Thunder Bay, Ont., is being moved into a larger space to expand its capacity.
St. Joseph's Care Group runs a number of addiction and mental health services in the northwestern Ontario city, including live-in recovery treatment, counselling, outpatient services and a supported transitional living program.
At the Balmoral Centre on Sibley Drive, it manages the city's 25 detox beds. At the Crossroads Centre on Oliver Road, which integrated with St. Joseph's Care Group in April, it offers 20 pre and post-treatment beds with on-site support. The organization is also a partner with the community's Rapid Access Addiction Medicine Clinics.
In order to make more room for the withdrawal management program, the Balmoral Centre and Crossroads Centre are swapping sites.
Both programs will operate at the Oliver Road building later this fall, while renovations take place at the Sibley Drive location. By summer 2025, the Crossroads Centre is hoped to permanently move from Oliver Road to Sibley Drive.
"Crossroads Centre will be renovated to meet the needs and provide the services to individuals that will be more accessible, safe and welcoming," said Nicole Spivak, director of addiction services with St. Joseph's Care Group.
"It will also allow space, which we don't have currently, to involve other programs."
A town hall meeting is being held on Thursday at the Oliver Road Community Centre from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. ET, where community members will have the chance to speak with staff and members of Superior North EMS and the Thunder Bay Police Service about the changes.
In 2021, St. Joseph's Care Group submitted a proposal for a 40-bed detox facility, which would include integrated mental health and addiction support.
CBC News requested an update from the province this summer on the status of that application. Hannah Jensen, deputy director of communications for Health Minister Sylvia Jones, confirmed that a proposal for a detox bed facility was received by Ontario Health, a provincial Crown agency. CBC News has not received any updates on the proposal's status.
At the end of 2022, the jury that oversaw the joint inquest into the deaths of Don Mamakwa and Roland McKay in Thunder Bay recommended a safe sobering centre be created in the city. St. Joseph's Care Group was involved in the task force looking into the creation of such a space.
"We received positive signals, but it's still going through the processes with our funder — so in the meantime, we're just going to focus on the renovations and moving those spaces over," Spivak said.
The organization's priority is to maintain a continuum of care to meet people's needs, she said.
"We really want to be able to respond as timely as possible, so although one program might have a wait-list or requirements for application … it's looking at other options that might be available in programs to reduce that wait," Spivak said.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.
A stream of people showing up to a brightly lit front porch, each holding up a bottle of wine, spirits, or beer.
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier has been excluded from Quebec’s Liberal caucus for the duration of an investigation led by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner, the party announced Thursday.
The head of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association hopes a city plan to crack down on vacant properties leads to a transformation in his community.