Healthcare workers in Thunder Bay, Ont. ask for public's feedback on supervised consumption sites

Healthcare workers from the NorWest Community Health Centre, the Joseph EsquegaHealth Centre and Elevate Northwestern Ontario are holding a series of open houses this week to consult the public on their plans to open a safe, supervised site in Thunder Bay, Ont. where clients can use drugs.

"Supervised is the proper term," said Holly Gauvin, the executive director of Elevate NWO, "thereis no safe consumption. The fact is that these are drugs ... that can be very, very dangerous."

She said the supervised facility will allow people to use pre-obtained drugs, under supervision, so that proper medical attention and intervention can be applied when necessary.

"The difference between a supervised injection site and a supervised consumption site [is that] supervised injection means you can only inject drugs [while] supervised consumption means you could consume the drugs in a different manner," Gauvinsaid on the CBC's Superior Morning.

She said afeasibility studythat was completed a few years ago through the local drug strategy showed that having a supervised consumption facility at both ends of the city would be ideal.

"The drugs that are coming into the city are totally different than they use to be," said Dr. Cheryll Everall, the medical director at the Joseph EsquegaHealth Centre, "we have an amazing amount of users in this city ... [so] providing an opportunity to use safely in an area where you can access other services [is] completely nesseary."

She said in the last two weeks, she's heard stories of overdose from three different clients.

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"We are looking at severe illnesses that are probably costing the healthcare system $100,000 per patient, per year," Everall said, "if they just want to use and leave, that's one thing, but if not, we'll engage with you and if you are ready for change, we are here."

A supervised consumption site is much more than just a facility where clients can use drugs, according to Everall. It's about "respecting the patient where they are at, engaging [with them], and building that relationship."

"This isn't about whether or not we should be doing it," Gauvin explained, "the feasibility study, the provincial governmentand federal government have all done research that says we should be doing this."

She said although residents in Thunder Bay may not agree on the idea of a supervised consumption site in the Lakehead, something needs to be done to address the opioid epidemic.

"It's the job of the less broken to take care of the more broken," Everall said.

"We now have heroin in our city, which has become quite commonly used, [and] the cocaine in this city is laced with carfentanil. We've had multiple people overdose on both substances, so it's time to make a change."

Tuesday's meeting will take place at the Joseph Esquega Health Centre on Donald Street while Wednesday's meeting will be held at Elevate NWO on Cumberland Street.

All meetings will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.