An overdose prevention site is coming to Vernon as early as this summer.
Interior Health is asking outside agencies to bid on providing the service, with the aim of saving lives in the midst of the ongoing opioid epidemic.
No location has been selected yet for the service, but some city councillors believe the city needs to have more of a say in where the site will be.
“Where I got frustrated is the City of Vernon is not being consulted on location, and I don’t think that is right,” Coun. Brian Quiring said.
Quiring would like to see the location sanctioned by council.
“We are the elected officials. I’m fully aware that we need one of these facilities in Vernon. I’m trained in naloxone. I’m not a person that doesn’t want to see this happen, but it is very important to me where it goes,” he said.
Quiring would like to ensure the overdose prevention site has a minimal impact on local businesses.
The health authority said it has heard council’s concern and will consider the city’s feedback.
“We want input from all stakeholders on how this works because we do want it to be successful,” said medical health officer Dr. Karin Goodison.
- Solar eclipse eye damage: More than 160 cases reported in Ontario, Quebec
- 3 women diagnosed with HIV after ‘vampire facials’ at unlicensed U.S. spa
- ‘Super lice’ are becoming more resistant to chemical shampoos. What to use instead
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
Interior Health said the location will depend on which spots are proposed by the outside agencies bidding to provide the service.
“We, as IH, would ask the applicant to consult with those who would be impacted by that decision,” said Goodison.
“It has to be a decision that works for our target group of people who use drugs, who are at risk of overdosing. It also needs to be something that works for the community of Vernon.”
To anyone who might be concerned about the planned overdose prevention site in Vernon, Goodison said the health authority will be reviewing the experiences of other communities that have similar services.
“We don’t want to set it next to someone’s home. Ideally, we don’t want to set this next to a business that is going to be greatly impacted by that so there is a number of things that will be part of that decision-making process,” Goodison said.
An overdose prevention site is similar to a supervised consumption site in that it allows a safe place for people to use illicit drugs where there are people trained to respond if an overdose occurs.
However, the legalities of the two are different, as supervised consumption sites operate with a federal exemption while overdose prevention sites are allowed to operate in British Columbia because a provincial public health emergency was declared.
Comments