Sudbury addictions centre says more funding needed for northern Ontario

Monarch Addictions Services in Sudbury has had to put plans on hold to expand staffing and programming, because it hasn't been able to secure provincial funding.

Monarch provides seven services throughout Sudbury, including residential and day treatment for men and women. Since 2017, the centre has been working on plans to move five of the services to one location. CEO Roxane Zuck said Monarch also wants to add six additional beds, which would be used for both women's detox andaa a safe place for people to stay temporarily once they're finished treatment.

Zuck said she felt hopeful when she applied for funding in September after the province's Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence put out a request for proposals (RFP). But months later, she said Monarch hasn't heard anything back on its application.

"Literally people are dying on our wait list. I can't tell you how many times our assessment coordinators have had someone you know, or even our connections councillors, have had someone on their list and you know they find out that the person has died. We didn't get them in on time. So it's very disheartening and frustrating and staff are having a hard time with it," Zuck said.

Shortage of detox beds

Zuck said a shortage of detox beds is "an issue throughout the north." Individuals must complete detox before starting a five week residential treatment program at Monarch. Health Sciences North offers a withdrawal management program to Sudburians, andZuck said it is often at full capacity. People coming from outside of Sudbury are expected to complete withdrawal management in their own community.

Zuck said the women's treatment program usually has 13 or 14 people, and it's not uncommon for a few of them to still have drugs in their system when they arrive, which can affect their eligibility for the program.

"Out of those 14 I would say at least three to four of them are coming in and testing positive for substances. Which doesn't mean that they've used recently, but the substances are still in their system," Zuck said, meaning the program sometimes operates below capacity.

New multipurpose beds would allow Monarch to provide a place for individuals to complete their withdrawal, if they don't have access to a safe place to detox. The beds could also be used to offer people a safe place to stay temporarily after completing treatment if they don't have secure housing or a safe place to go.

'Fighting for the same dollar'

Zuck said the need for more beds, and more staffing, is clear, but said there have been "a lot of hoops that we've had to jump through" to try to access funding.

She's not aware of any centres in northern Ontario receiving funding through the recent RFP. The director of the Jubilee Centre for Timmins confirmed to CBC that it also applied for funding, and had not heard back.

It really is about making sure that the funding comes to the north so that we can work together. Roxane Zuck

Northern Ontario has been disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis. In 2020, all five of the health units with the most opioid-related deaths in the province were in northern Ontario, with Sudbury's health unit topping the list.

Zuck said just last week another envelope of funding was announced, which she plans to apply for. But she said out of more than $5 million, less that $600,000 is earmarked for northeastern Ontario. She said she worries about "fighting for the same dollar," when she knows funding is needed throughout the region.

"It really is about making sure that the funding comes to the north so that we can work together and get our services up to anacceptable level of care. Because right now we are falling short," Zuck said.

CBC requested an interview withthe Ministry of Health to discuss funding for addictions services in the north. The ministry did not provide an interview or a response by deadline.