Moncton fire chief voices concern after detox centre temporarily closes

Moncton, N.B., fire Chief Conrad Landry says the fire department responds to “four or five” overdose calls each day.

“Those levels are a little too high for our comfort level,” he said in an interview on Friday.

In 2022, New Brunswick had its highest-ever recorded rate of substance-related deaths, according to a report from Public Health.

Landry said the frequency was placing a strain on the department’s resources.

“We could have two vehicles dealing with two different overdoses in the city and that could make me short of two vehicles for a structure fire, for example,” he said.

“So far it hasn’t happened but it’s just a matter of time.”

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He’s concerned about the temporary closure of a 10-bed detox centre in Moncton.

“When police or bylaw (enforcement) or the fire department arrives (for an overdose call), they need to send them somewhere. Is it a detox, is it a shelter, is it a safe injection site, is it a hospital? … Closing resources is not the solution,” he said.

In a release, Horizon Health said it closed the detox centre due to staffing shortages and that it was aiming to reopen “later this summer.”

Jill LeBlanc-Farquharson, Horizon Health’s addictions and mental health director for adult services, told Global News in an interview that a combination of employee leave along with planned vacations created a critical shortage of registered nurses at the facility.

“We considered a lot of options about having registered nurses in other areas perhaps,” she said on Friday.

“We did temporary postings, we did everything we could prior to making the decision to close, which was not taken lightly,” she said.

She said outpatient services were still available in Moncton, and those in need of inpatient detox could still access it in other regions in the province.

“We collaborate with our other zones, they put beds aside for us for urgent situations. We can provide transportation if it’s required, if that’s a hindrance,” she said.

She said Vitalité had also put aside beds for Horizon detox patients in Edmundston and Tracadie.

She said the Moncton facility has a 20-bed capacity, but had to scale down to 10 beds during the pandemic.

“The problem during infection control was the washroom facilities and two (people) to a room, we were unable to do this at that time,” LeBlanc-Farquharson said.

“We’ve now been clear for that and we have appropriate testing for those who may be showing symptoms. The plan is to go back to 20 (beds).”

She said they needed to recruit more registered nurses to be able to return to being a 20-bed facility.

“We are very confident that we will succeed in the recruitment efforts that we’re making,” she said.