Interior Health rejects Penticton council’s demands to restore funding to Pathways

The president and CEO of the Interior Health Authority (IHA) has rejected Penticton city council’s demands to restore funding to a long-established addictions resource centre in the Okanagan.

In a letter dated Sept. 14 and appearing in the Oct. 19 council agenda, Susan Brown said services have been bolstered in the South Okanagan in the wake of the health authority’s decision to defund Pathways Addictions Resource Centre.

“We have also expanded care teams and hired new clinicians to provide substance use counselling services for adults and youth, and established a new Integrated Treatment Team (ITT) that offers flexible treatment options to people who were, in the past, unable to access services due to lack of transportation, scheduling issues, childcare and other reasons,” Brown wrote.

As for city council’s request to reinstate $500,000 in annual funding to Pathways, Brown indirectly declined the request.

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“I appreciate the concerns City Council has raised about Interior Health’s decision to discontinue contracts for substance use counselling with Pathways earlier this year. It is unfortunate that misinformation and rumour is contributing to frustrations locally, when Interior Health has made it a priority to support a smooth transition for clients.”

Brown did not expand on what she meant by the spread of misinformation and rumour.

Pathways Addictions Resource Centre was a cornerstone in the Okanagan city for 47 years.

Five counsellors supported approximately 1,000 clients per year with their drug and alcohol addiction challenges.

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On March 2, the resource centre announced Interior Health would cancel its contracts as of May 31 to bring all substance use counselling services in-house to establish a single point of access.

The imminent closure prompted weekly rallies outside the centre as past clients and their families tried to raise awareness and save the centre.

Penticton city council has been critical of Interior Health’s decision to repatriate the contracts but voted not to contribute municipal funding.

“Since the Province and Interior Health defunded Pathways, City Council has been inundated with stories of success, pleas for help and confusion as to why a program such as this would be defunded in the midst of a Provincial Health Emergency due to the significant and continued rise in opioid-related overdose deaths reported in the South Okanagan and across B.C.,” read a letter, dated Sept. 3, from Penticton Mayor John Vassilaki to Brown.

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“Simply put, the defunding of Pathways has weakened paths to substance use treatment and care in Penticton. We urge you to reconsider this decision and restore the funding to Pathways Addictions and Resource Centre immediately.”

The centre has since reopened under a fee-for-service model while operators attempt to find alternate sources of funding.

“We don’t want to go away. We don’t want to disappear. We have a lot to offer the community. We are inundated with calls every single day of people looking for help because they are not finding it anywhere else,” said executive director Daryl Meyers.