Health unit seeks extension for temporary overdose prevention site

The clock is ticking for London's temporary overdose prevention site (TOPS): both its provincialfunding and its temporary exemptionare set to expire Aug.15.

Faced with a looming deadline, the Middlesex-London Health Unit is covering its bases by asking bothprovincial andfederal governments to keep the site open a little longer.

Plan A is to ask the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to approve an additional six-month extension, a process that health unit staff have already begun. However, that extension is not guaranteed.

"Due to the interruption of government activity by the election, to date there has been no indication as to whether the extension will be granted," chief medical officer Chris Mackie wrote in a report submitted to the board of health Thursday.

Adding to the uncertainty arepremier Doug Ford's past comments on supervised consumption sites. At a campaign event inApril, Ford said he was 'dead against' them.

Still, Mackieremains optimistic.

"[The provincial Conservatives]have rolled back a whole bunch of other programs and policies,so the fact that they haven't decided to roll this one back is very encouraging," Mackie said, noting Ford's throne speech commitment to mental health.

As an added safeguard, the health unit is also requesting that the federal government designate 186 King St. as an interim supervised consumption site until a permanent site opens. Health Canada has said it will consider the request, according to Mackie's report.

At Thursday's board of health meeting, the board moved to go ahead with requests to both provincial and federal levels of government, andto invite Health Minister Christine Elliott to tour the temporary overdose prevention site.

By the numbers

As London's overdose prevention site nears its six-month anniversary, here are some key numbers drawn from Mackie'sreport to the board of health.

• 4,791 - the number of supervised injections at the TOPS between Feb. 12 and June 30, 2018.
• 55 - average number of visits per weekday.
• 30 - average number of visits per day on weekends.
• 94 - number of referrals to community services
• 7 - number of overdoses at the site during this time.
• 0 - number of overdose deathsin or around the site.