Temporary overdose prevention site to open in downtown London this February

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London's temporary overdose prevention site will be located at 186 King St.

London will become the first city in the province to open a temporary overdose prevention site this February. According to a Jan. 18 Middlesex-London Health Unit press release, the site will provide those who use injection drugs the opportunity to take these drugs under the supervision of healthcare professionals in an attempt to reduce the number of overdoses in the London area.

The site will be located at 186 King St. and will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.

The announcement of the location of the temporary overdose prevention site was made on Jan. 18, just days after the London Police Service (LPS) reported three deaths and two hospitalizations that are suspected to be a result of opioid overdoses.

According to an Ontario government press release on Dec. 7, there were 337 opioid related deaths in Ontario from May to July in 2017 alone.

“People from all walks of life and from every economic background are losing their lives. Unless we change the direction, this health crisis will continue,” London Chief of Police, John Pare, said in a statement regarding the temporary overdose prevention site. Pare explained in his statement that there is no quick solution to this drug crisis but all stakeholders involved need to work together in order to solve this problem.

“Supervised consumption facilities have the potential to reduce mortality associated to overdose and disease but it will not be the silver bullet to resolve the opioid crisis and the impact of fentanyl in our community,” Pare said in the statement.

According to the press release, the federal government has made some changes in order to assist provinces across the country address the opioid crisis. The press release states, “Under the new federal policy, provinces experiencing a public health emergency can request an exemption under federal law for temporary overdose prevention sites.”

Minister of Health and LongTerm Care, Eric Hoskins, wrote to the Federal Health Minister in December to request funding and approval from the federal government for temporary overdose prevention sites in wake of the province's opioid crisis. As a result, applications for overdose prevention sites became available on Jan. 11 in Ontario. The provincial government will also be investing $222 million in combatting the opioid crisis over the next three years.

At the announcement, Chris Mackie, London's medical officer of health, stated that London has a big-city drug problem in a mid-sized city. Citing surveillance data from the province, Mackie said, “In the week between Christmas and New Year's, more people went to emergency rooms here in London than anywhere else in the province. More than Toronto, more than Ottawa, more than York, Peel and Durham. We had more people going for opioid overdoses than anywhere else. A very unfortunate statistic.”

Anne-Marie Sánchez from the Centre for Organizational Effectiveness said at the announcement that the company was hired by the Middlesex-London Health Unit to conduct the public consultation component for the temporary overdose prevention site. The data showed that Londoners overwhelmingly see overdose prevention sites as a component to help address the opioid crisis. In addition, only one per cent of individuals who took the survey thought that the overdose prevention site would have no benefits.

Individuals can view the full public consultation report at healthunit.com/opioids.

Shaya Dhinsa, Manager of Sexual Health at the Middlesex-London Health Unit, explained how the site will operate. The site will be located in the same building as the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, which has a counterpoint needle and syringe program. Clients can identify if they want to use the needle exchange program or want to just safely inject. “There is a nurse in the injection room that will monitor someone who is injecting and is aware of what they are injecting. Post-injection there is a chill room. Clients can go there after their injection and there is staff (from different community organizations) that is there to also keep an eye on the client if there is a concern […] when the client is ready, [the staff] will help connect them to different programs and services.”

The temporary overdose prevention site is aiming to open on Feb. 12, but the date is not surefire.