There's a new supervised drug consumption site in Ottawa.
The Somerset West Community Health Centre says it has been granted permission by the Ministry of Health to open what they're calling a temporary overdose prevention site, in order to combat the opioid overdose crisis.
They say it's a smaller version of a supervised injection site, with four stations that can be rapidly set up.
The site is operational now, at 55 Eccles Street, just off of Booth, and will operate every week day between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
The site will provide:
- Supervised injection
- Harm reduction supplies, including disposal of used supplies
- Naloxone
- Oral and intranasal drug consumption
- Fentanyl test strips as a drug checking service
- Referrals to support and treatment
“We are in an overdose health crisis. People in Somerset West are dying,” Dawn Lyons, the Director of Family and Community Health and Harm Reduction, said in a statement. “Permission to run this temporary overdose prevention site will allow SWCHC to use an existing room to start watching over people injecting. This room will save lives.”
The Health Centre says it is working on a permanent injection site, to operate within a renovated space. It will have six injection bays. There is no timeline yet for the permanent structure.
