The lone supervised consumption sites in Calgary and Lethbridge officially shut their doors Tuesday as the province shifts funding to treatment centres.
Safeworks Outreach at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in Calgary was the province’s first supervised consumption site.
It opened in 2017 to respond to the opioid and overdose crisis, providing sterile equipment for drug use alongside supervision in case of an overdose.
Six more opened in the following years across the province but, with the closure of the sites in both Calgary and Lethbridge, only three remain operational: two in Edmonton and one in Grande Prairie.
Recovery Alberta did not immediately provide a response about whether those sites are expected to close in the future.
In Calgary, a recovery response team and an addiction clinic are set to replace the Safeworks site as of Wednesday, Recovery Alberta said in a statement.
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In an email, spokesperson Abbie Siroishka said the clinic “will expand access to multidisciplinary health professionals, including registered nurses, social workers, peer supports, addiction counsellors and mental health supports.”
The clinic will operate in the same site as its predecessor and provide clients with supports, such as access to addiction recovery medication, nursing assessments and help transitioning to withdrawal and addiction treatment.
When the province announced the closure in March, Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said its funding would be sent to different support services, including 30 to 40 new withdrawal management beds.
In Lethbridge, the province had said money for the mobile overdose prevention site would be shifted to 10 more withdrawal beds and an addiction medicine clinic.
Harm reduction advocates and experts say closing the sites will lead to more widespread drug use and more fatal overdoses.
Addictions Minister Rick Wilson has said the change uses the health system more effectively for those in need.
I remember a time when Canadians were responsible for their bad decisions. Now everything is a “mental health issue.” Probably brought on by 11 years of poor federal governance.