Temporary overdose prevention sites eyed in Oxford, Elgin

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With approval of supervised drug use sites paused by the provincial government, an area health unit’s top doctor is exploring alternative options to address an increase in opioid-related deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his report to the board of Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) – the health unit serving Oxford and Elgin counties including St. Thomas and Woodstock – medical officer of health Ninh Tran outlines “alternative approaches to mitigate harms associated with the opioid crisis.”

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“The reason for the report is due to the provincial pause on CTS (consumption treatment services) and the report focuses on alternatives that are what I would consider comparable alternatives,” Tran said.

To address elevated rates of opioid deaths, the health unit was undertaking a feasibility study on a supervised drug-use site, a facility where users can consume drugs under medical supervision, when the province announced in October it was pausing applications for new sites while it reviewed 17 existing facilities. The government launched a “critical incident review” following the death of a mother of two who was killed by a stray bullet near a consumption site in Toronto.

“With the ongoing review and the continued rise of substance-use-related health emergencies, we remain concerned about the impact of opioid use on our community and our ability to save lives,” Tran writes in his report.

Tran’s report outlines two alternatives to supervised drug use sites, also known as consumption treatment services.

The first option are urgent public health need sites (UPHNS), which are “more generic” and federally regulated, “do not necessarily require provincial approval” and are not subject to provincial requirements, Tran’s report says.

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Also known as overdose prevention sites, the facilities aren’t funded provincially or federally, they provide services to reduce harm related to drug use and are established temporarily to respond to urgent needs in a specific area or community.

The second option proposed by Tran is the national overdose response service (NORS) and the Brave App, a virtual prevention resource that supports those who use substances “to not use alone and stay safe while using,” Tran’s report says. Research has supported e-harm reduction interventions as “feasible, acceptable and usable,” and can also help to enhance overdose detection, the report says.

Before the province’s announcement to stall new supervised drug-use locations while reviewing facilities, a proposed Woodstock location faced intense pushback from residents at a public meeting. Later, Woodstock city council voted 4-3 against the facility.

Tran said opioid overdose deaths are “still double or more than double what we saw pre-pandemic.”

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Public Health Ontario reported 37 people in Oxford and Elgin died from opioid poisoning in 2022. In contrast, 17 people died as a result of drug overdoses in 2019.

Nearby Middlesex-London Health Unit’s top medical officer, Alex Summers, reported similar findings as Tran.

“The pandemic certainly worsened a lot of the experience of people dealing with substance use and addiction,” Summers said. “We are still very much in a crisis when it comes to the harms of opioids in Middlesex and London.”

Public Health Ontario’s data indicates 124 people died in Middlesex and London from opioids in 2022, whereas in 2019 the region reported 60 deaths attributed to opioids.

Regional HIV/AIDS Connection opened a supervised drug use site at 186 King St. in London in 2018. The site moved to a larger location at 446 York St. early last year.

London’s “consumption treatment facility is a key intervention” to addressing the opioid crisis, but it’s only one means of addressing the opioid problem,” Summers said.

“It’s an ongoing, uphill battle,” Summers said.

bwilliams@postmedia.com

@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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