Health Canada has approved an application from Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) for a new supervised injection site on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES).
The service will be located at 528 Powell Street with six supervised injection booths open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
“Staff at the Ministry of Health and health authorities have been working very hard for several months to get approval from Health Canada for additional supervised consumption sites to combat the overdose crisis,” said provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall in a release. “We are very pleased today to have received the first three approvals for new sites in the Lower Mainland. With more than 3 million injections at Insite and not one overdose death, we know these new sites will be a critical tool in our effort to save lives.”
The site, called the Powell Street Gateway, is currently operating as an overdose prevention site. The new facility, expected to open in June, will be funded with VCH and the Lookout Emergency Aid Society.
“We lost 216 mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and friends last year to illicit drug overdoses in Vancouver,” says Dr. Patricia Daly, Chief Medical Health Officer, VCH. “This new supervised injection service will go a long way in helping to stem the fatalities that are plaguing our city.”
This news comes the same day Vancouver police revealed four people died from a drug overdose in the city last week.
“Incorporating supervised injection into the care of clients who use illicit drugs helps prevent overdose deaths, infections, and the spread of disease such as HIV and hepatitis C, while at the same time engaging vulnerable people in other health care services including mental health and withdrawal management,” says Laura Case, Chief Operating Officer, Vancouver Community. “Once clients become more engaged with the health care system, they are more likely to pursue detox, addiction counselling and addiction treatment services.”
VCH has a second exemption application for a supervised injection service at the Heatley Integrated Health Centre, located at 330 Heatley St. that is still pending approval from Health Canada.
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