People living with mental health and substance-use challenges throughout the B.C. Okanagan will soon have better access to new treatment and recovery services.
The province is adding 22 new adult substance-use beds to serve people in the Interior Health Region. The beds will be operated by The Bridge Youth and Family Services Society in Kelowna.
“Thirteen beds will be for withdrawal management also known as detox, nine of the beds are for stabilization and transition. This is in addition to the ten youth substance beds that the Bridge opened in conjunction with the health authority – that opened a year ago,” said B.C.’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Sheila Malcolmson.
“All these new beds are a crucial part of the comprehensive response to the toxic drug crisis and a vital building block in the system of mental health and addictions care that we are building across British Columbia.”
The new stabilization and transition units will help ensure that the Bridge can provide continuous care, beyond the initial treatment, for people who need it.
“This investment in the Okanagan is going to more than double our capacity to provide withdrawal management services,” said The Bridge Youth and Family Services board director, Patrick Spinks.
“What this means in practical terms, is that wait times will be reduced and people can get the care that they need when they need it.”
The new services are part of the province’s Budget 2021’s $500-milion investment to continue building a complete system of mental health and addictions care.
“People throughout the central Okanagan will benefit as we bring these new substance use beds into service,” said Interior Health CEO Susan Brown in a news release.
“Together with The Bridge Youth and Family Services, we will further enhance our efforts towards adding treatment and supports for people with problematic substance use.”
The province says that on top of these 22 beds, there are 3,201 publicly funded community substance-use beds throughout the province. That includes 3,096 adult beds and 142 youth beds.