After years of tumultuous planning, London’s first permanent supervised consumption facility will soon open.
In a joint news conference hosted by the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) on Monday, local officials announced that the Ontario government has approved an application for a consumption and treatment services site to open at 446 York St.
The approval includes funding to pay for renovations at the site and to undertake operations once it is ready to accept patients. Construction on the site is expected to begin in spring 2021.
“I’m imagining a late fall opening at 446 York, based on dialogue we’ve had with the Ministry (of Health), so we’ll see if that holds true,” said Brian Lester, executive director for Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC).
RHAC is the primary program operator of Carepoint, a downtown facility that’s similar to the upcoming site at 446 York St. Carepoint opened in 2018 with the intention of operating on a temporary basis, pending the opening of the permanent site on York Street.
Lester says the operating costs will be approximately $1.7 million, with capital costs adding up to at least $1.2 million.
“We’re actually working through that process and we don’t have those finite details determined,” Lester said, adding that the province will cover both of the costs.
An address that formerly housed John Bellone’s Musical Instruments, city council rezoned 446 York St. in late 2018 to allow for a supervised consumption facility.
The facility had long point been a point of contention, with the rezoning seeing opposition prior to its council approval and a group of Londoners filing appeals against the rezoning nearly a year after. The appeals were later dismissed by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.
Lester says the construction process will retrofit 446 York St. with a number of wraparound supports for patients.
“It’ll have a space for consumption where they’ll be six seats for consumption, then there’s space in the aftercare area for folks who have used their substances to actually have support and then there’s an intake area and also a waiting area, and on-site we’ll also have storage and whatnot,” Lester said.
Monday’s announcement comes three years after the Ontario government declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency.
Soon after, the MLHU announced it was searching for a location for a supervised consumption facility. London’s temporary overdose prevention site (TOPS) — the first of its kind in the province — opened February 2018 on King Street, but the facility was always meant to be an interim measure while the city moved forward with plans to open a permanent facility. The temporary site has prevented nearly 300 opioid-related deaths since its opening.
The new facility at 446 York St. will have a space nearly three times larger than what’s provided at the temporary King Street site.
The federal government had previously approved a second permanent supervised consumption site to be set up at 241 Simcoe St., but Middlesex-London’s medical officer of health Dr. Chris Mackie told Monday’s news conference that it is unclear if that facility will come to fruition.
“We’re early to say whether a second site is feasible and needed in this community right now,” Mackie said.
“I don’t think we’ve ruled anything out, but the focus right now is to get this first site up and running.”