Alberta’s first supervised consumption site has federal approval.
Calgary’s Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre is the name of the centre where a temporary site will be established for now, with a permanent site expected to open next year.
The Calgary Coalition on Supervised Consumption has completed a needs assessment to identify additional opportunities for supervised consumption services in Calgary. Needs assessments have also been done by community coalitions in Grande Prairie, Edson, Red Deer, Medicine Hat and Fort McMurray. The Minister’s Opioid Emergency Response Commission is scheduled to review and discuss the assessments in November.
“Calgary will become the first city in Alberta to begin offering supervised consumption services,” a government press release stated. “Five other sites approved for Alberta last week - four in Edmonton and one in Lethbridge - are anticipated to open in late 2017 or early 2018.”
Evidence shows that supervised consumption services save lives, reduce transmission of infections by providing sterile needles and equipment and build safer communities by reducing public substance use and discarded needles, according to the provincial government. More than 100 members of the Beltline neighbourhood were consulted as the plan for the consumption site was assembled; the province said it would continue to collect feedback as the centre operates.
Health Canada approved the AHS plan to offer supervised consumption services in a temporary, modular facility in the surface parking area at Chumir, in the downtown a few blocks northwest of the Saddledome.
The “interim” solution will help deliver services sooner, while construction of a permanent service area within the health centre is underway, according to the press release. Permanent supervised consumption services within the Chumir health centre are anticipated to open in early 2018.
These services will complement the array of supports and services already offered at Chumir’s Opioid Dependency Program, where people have access to treatment, including Suboxone, methadone and counselling.
“The opioid crisis has had a devastating impact on families and communities in Calgary,” Associate Minister of Health Brandy Payne said. “By bringing supervised consumption services to this busy health facility in the Beltline neighbourhood, we are working to save lives and to help connect people who use substances with vital wraparound health and social supports.”
The province is providing $2.2 million for startup costs and necessary renovations to the temporary and permanent locations at the Chumir health centre. The province has also accepted the recommendation from the Minister’s Opioid Emergency Response Commission to provide operational funding for the six supervised consumption sites now approved for Alberta.
