A group of independent doctors launched an unsanctioned pop-up overdose prevention site at the Comox Valley Hospital on Monday, the latest in a string of actions designed to pressure the government on the drug crisis.
The group, called Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, claims the provincial government promised overdose prevention sites at Vancouver Island hospitals but hasn’t followed through.
“We are here to show that we need to have this done right now. We need an action from the government to roll this out, because people are dying on the hospital grounds,” family physician and addictions medicine doctor Eva Hemmerich said.
“Patients who use substances cannot use their substance in hospital. It’s not allowed, so they are forced to go use it in the bathroom, in the stairwell, in the parking lot, in the forest, and then overdose and die.”
Island Health operates eight overdose prevention sites, but none on the grounds of a hospital.
Hemmereich said the result is that people suffering from substance use disorders either avoid getting medical treatment when they need it, or end up putting themselves or health care workers at risk.
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“(Overdose prevention sites) are an evidence-based measure that reduces overdoses, that connects people to care because (they are) staffed by people who are trained in overdose response … gives harm reduction supplies, and also takes the pressure off nursing staff and other health care providers having to deal with a sudden overdose … or potential exposure to toxic fumes, substances,” he said.
“It’s a win-win.”
It’s the latest in a string of similar actions, including pop-up sites in Victoria and Nanaimo in November, and in Nanaimo in December.
Last spring, former health minister Adrian Dix said B.C. would require a designated space for patients with substance use disorders to consume illicit drugs — a plan that was walked back ahead of the provincial election.
The doctors say they have since met with new Health Minister Josie Osborne and feel they had an impact.
Osborne said Monday that the province wasn’t ruling out overdose prevention facilities at hospitals, but that the measure must be done properly.
“We are working towards minimum standards so that we can ensure that overdose prevention sites near or on hospital sites are done in a way that is safe for patients, putting their care first and foremost as well as for people and health care workers in facilities,” she said.
Supporter and former heroin addict Callum Roth told Global News that overdose prevention sites are critical to keep people alive until they are ready to get sober.
He said it took him multiple attempts to kick his addiction, including trying alternatives like methadone and fentanyl patches to get off street drugs.
“It did not happen overnight,” he said.
He said it took him years to realize he was using drugs as a way to self-medicate, and that the solution was working on himself.
“There was so much more to it than me just doing the drugs … if I just put the drugs down, that’s not enough to keep me sober,” he said.
“It’s not one thing that works for all of us, we are so individual.”
The group plans to operate the site from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all week.
