The province has released new details of its plan to convert some of Ontario’s supervised consumption sites to Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs amid backlash from community advocates and medical professionals who say the closures will lead to more deaths.
The province announced last year that it would be closing 10 supervised consumption sites across Ontario due to their close proximity to schools and daycares.
In a news release issued Thursday, the province said it is moving forward with the conversion of nine of the sites in an effort to protect “the safety of children and families while improving access to recovery and treatment services.”
“We have heard loud and clear from families across Ontario that drug injection sites near schools and child-care centres are making our communities less safe,” Sylvia Jones, Ontario’s deputy premier and minister of health, said in a news release.
“Through these nine new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs, part of our government’s $378 million investment to create a total of 19 hubs across the province, we are taking the next step in our plan to keep communities safe while improving access to mental health and addictions services.”
Four of the nine sites that have been approved are in Toronto, including the Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre at 168 Bathurst Street, the South Riverdale Community Health Centre at 1156 Danforth Avenue, the Regent Park Community Health Centre located at 465 Dundas Street East, and Toronto Public Health’s The Works at 277 Victoria St.
The Toronto Public Health (TPH) location will establish a HART hub that includes “24/7 intake, medical monitoring and referrals; outreach, wrap-around services, and supportive housing connection substance use treatment and primary care, as well as outpatient medical specialty services.”
However, TPH tells CTV News Toronto, “we have not yet been informed of the exact funding allocated, so the services available at the HART Hub to be run by Toronto Public Health remain to be determined.”
Other facilities will employ a variety of medical professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, mental health practitioners, and housing support workers, the province said.
Services will include “comprehensive primary care, substance use treatment, housing and shelter support and mental health assessments,” the document read.
The province has said the new centres will open by March 31, 2025.
The Neighbourhood Group’s Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site at 260 Augusta Ave., which is not funded by the province and has not been approved for conversion, also must close by March 31.
The closures have been met with harsh criticism from health-care workers and advocates who say the closures will have serious consequences.
Researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital’s MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network released a study in November that found the closures will likely lead to more public drug use and more overdoses.
According to data analyzed by researchers, in 2022, an average of about 561 people used the sites slated for closure on a monthly basis.
Of those clients, only about 35 will be within 500 metres of an open supervised consumption site come April, the study read.
In a report released last month, Ontario’s auditor general found that when deciding to shut down the sites, the province’s ministry of health did not “develop a comprehensive plan to assess and quantify the impacts,” including an increase in overdoses and emergency department visits.
The report also noted that the province did not conduct formal consultations with affected stakeholders, including those who use the sites that are slated for closure.
With files from The Canadian Press