By Chad Klassen

ASK Wellness supports Interior Health’s idea of fixed supervised consumption site

Aug 15, 2018 | 3:16 PM

KAMLOOPS — The executive director of ASK Wellness says a permanent location would be more ideal, saying the mobile supervised consumption sites on each side of the river are taking a toll on the social agency. 

“I’m fully in support of a fixed location. There’s no question ASK and Interior Health have a longstanding, succesful relationship, but this isn’t a sustainable operation to have a mobile supervised consumption service,” says Bob Hughes from ASK who adds the mobile site will be harder to operate at the back of its property when the Spirit Square affordable housing project is complete next year. 

Interior Health brought up the idea of a fixed location at City Hall on Tuesday, saying mobile site is going so well in kamloops that it wants to expand services, and even set up a permanent site eventually. 

“Our evaluation of the mobile service speaks to some of the challenges of using in a mobile location,” noted Interior Health’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Corneil. “I think the goal would be to have a fixed site.”

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Since the mobile supervised consumption site first set up in Kamloops last June, Interior Health says it’s had 7,100 visits with repeat patients. The health authority says it’s saved 22 lives, helping to reverse overdoses on site. 

“From our perspective as a health authority, the supervised consumption services have been a great success,” said Interior Health’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Trevor Corneil. “We’ve seen a real increase in the number of people who are accessing. Certainly people coming back more than once is wonderful. That’s what we want to see.”

Hughes says ASK’s reputation has suffered, but he also understands people feeling unsafe with needles, as one example, in the community. He wants the consumption site to be seen as a temporary fix for users and says more emphasis needs to be put on getting these people well and working. 

“It might not be the right time to try to expand the service and offer it more, but I think where we really need to focus the attention is, how are people when they use this service, and other harm-reduction approaches, how is that translating into people getting into housing and getting better,” said Hughes. “I think that’s something I really hope we can try to talk to the city about.”

City council expressed clearly on tuesday their displeasure with the needle situation, adding that until that is cleaned up and other services are added, it wouldn’t be able to support the idea of expanding the supervised consumption services.

“The underlying tragedy here is that we have lost 111 lives here in Kamloops over the last three years, and we are as empathetic as Interior Health about that tragedy. But we need to see some strategies in place, things like expanding Car 40, things like improved access to detox services, things like better mental health and addiction services.”

Interior health says a nurse would need to be taken out of the rotation in Royal Inland Hospital’s hental health ward in order to fill another position with Car 40.