Record June rain and flooding isbeing blamed for what has turned into more permanent closure at a 60-bed Edmonton addiction treatment centre.
The largest provincially-run such centre in Edmonton, the Henwood Treatment Centre in Edmonton, closed its doors in June after “significant damage from overland flooding,” said a statement from Recovery Alberta emailed to Postmedia on Wednesday.
All clients from the Henwood Treatment Centre have been transitioned to alternative addiction treatment and recovery services, the statement said.
“A comprehensive assessment of extent of the damage at the Henwood Treatment Centre is underway to determine the future of the facility. The safety and well-being of patients, staff and the community will continue to guide decisions,” the note said.
Postmedia has reached out to the province for information about the extent of the flooding damage, and the future of the northeast Edmonton centre’s operations.
According to the Health Services Association of Alberta (HSAA), some 20 addictions counsellors, clinical supervisors, mental health therapists, recreation therapists, psychologists, therapy assistants and social workers at Henwood are being redeployed to other treatment services.
HSAA president Leanne Alfaro said the closure of addiction recovery programs at the centre is deeply concerning to its members.
“The loss of more than 60 treatment beds in the city without any immediate replacement will only increase demand for these services, especially at a time when the opioids crisis continues to claim lives, harm communities, and increase pressure on health-care professionals across the province,” Alfaro said.
“Our members are worried about their patients and feel uncertain about the future of the critical care they provide if this program is not restored. Alberta needs more addiction treatment spaces, not less,” she said.
“We encourage Recovery Alberta to revisit this program decision and advance strategies for opening new treatment beds in Edmonton to ensure Albertans struggling with addiction can get the professional care they need, where they need it.”
Social media reports widely gave the waiting list numbers for Henwood as 600.
Among those left in the gap were 104 “active clients” requiring support on the list to be assessed for admission into treatment at Henwood, Recovery Alberta said.
“Our team proactively contacted each client by phone to discuss alternative treatment options and available supports. Where we were unable to reach someone by phone, we followed up by email with information about alternative treatment programs and pathways to care,” the note said, referring to the centre in the past tense.
“Henwood Treatment Centre has been an important part of Edmonton’s addiction treatment system. That said, provincial investments are adding more than 400 treatment, stabilization, housing and recovery spaces across the Edmonton area, and Poundmaker’s Lodge Treatment Centre is also returning to full operating capacity.”
The province has plans to de-centralize some addiction recovery treatment, with multiple treatment centres planned on or close to First Nations.
Individuals seeking addiction treatment and recovery support can call 211 for information and help connecting to available services in their community, the release said.
New directions for addiction recovery
On July 22, city and provincial officials met to announce a $30-million package for addiction recovery.
In the mix is a new capacity for involuntary intervention using spare beds in existing facilities and 400 new beds for recovery — as well as a high-tech short-term integrated stabilization centre at Edmonton police headquarters, and a 105-bed involuntary intervention facility for youth to open in late fall or early next year.
Mental Health and Addiction Minister Rick Wilson said now other supports are in place, the province can roll out involuntary intervention.
“We’re going to be taking some beds from other facilities that were underutilized, and we’ll be starting compassionate intervention,” he said.
Wilson noted Edmonton’s facing serious pressures related to addiction, mental health, and housing instability, saying more than half of all opioid deaths in Alberta happen in Edmonton, along with nearly two-thirds of all emergency health services responses.
Wilson pledged $30 million for “new and strengthened outreach, navigation and stabilization services, recovery-oriented addiction treatment, mental health care, emergency shelter spaces, supportive housing, and much more.”
“Supports must work together so people can move from crisis to stability, and from stability to recovery,” Wilson said, touting expanded access to “recovery-oriented” care through the Alberta recovery model for mental illness and addiction.
Wilson said the 400 promised beds don’t even include the involuntary intervention that’s been a bone of contention amongst social activists.
He cited 75 new recovery beds at Enoch Cree First Nation, 40 per cent of them earmarked for female clients.
Additionally, the Enoch Cree have a drop-in centre Downtown, and the Métis Nation of Alberta has a recovery community at Métis Crossing on the river, and a New Beginnings centre downtown.
Construction is underway on brand new 150-bed buildings in Edmonton and Calgary, he said.
The Oxford House program, a registered Canadian charity with a facility in Calgary, will be opening a treatment centre in Edmonton, he said.
“As we keep rolling this out, that’s going to start impacting the whole province. You’re going to start seeing a real, noticeable difference where we’ve been able to actually get people into treatment quicker. Before, if somebody wanted to go into treatment, we’d get them started, and there’s no place for them, and then they’d go back on the street, and then they’d go back into detox, and it’s just kind of a roller coaster,” Wilson said.
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