On the day the temporary consumption and treatment services site opened its door in downtown Kitchener, the provincial government announced it would provide funding for the permanent site.
“Our government welcomes the work done by Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services, Sanguen Health Centre and their partners in building community support for this new consumption and treatment services site,” health minister Christine Elliott said in a statement.
READ MORE: A look inside Kitchener’s interim supervised consumption site
“Ontario remains committed to working with communities to establish a network of programs and services in areas with the greatest need to save lives and connect Ontarians with life-saving treatment and rehabilitation services.”
The province approved the region’s operational budget request of $1.6 million which will cover things like staff salaries, according to Waterloo Regional Chair Karen Redman.
“That’s really important because that’s going to pay for staff who are going to be there on hand to build trust relationships with the people who are using the site when it becomes a more permanent medical clinic,” she explained.
The region is also requesting another $636,000 to pay for the renovations for the permanent site which is is currently expected to launch in February. So far it has received $26,000 of that funding, according to Redman although she remains optimistic that the rest of the money is coming.
“Staff have indicated that they have to go through the process to negotiate that capital,” she said.
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The provincial government says this is the 16th such site it has approved and provided funding for across Ontario.
The interim site, which is located at 150 Duke St. W., was officially launched on Tuesday morning.
The permanent site will feature wraparound services such as counselling, primary care, opioid-dependency treatment, and other health and social services.
READ MORE: Kitchener approves Duke St. location for supervised consumption site, temporary site approved
A decision to launch a temporary site at the Duke Street location was approved by regional council in April around the time a location for the permanent site was selected.
A region of Waterloo spokesperson said the temporary site was launched in an attempt to deal with an opioid crisis which has seen 50 lives claimed in the region in 2019, according to Waterloo Regional Police statistics.
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