Pubdate: Sat, 14 Jan 2017 Source: Saturday Okanagan, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2017 Saturday Okanagan Contact: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1206 Author: Andrea Peacock Page: A1 IHA WANTS TO HAVE MOBILE SUPERVISED INJECTION SITE Health authority applying for an exemption from Health Canada to operate the site; the process could happen right away or take years A mobile supervised injection site is in the works for Kelowna, Interior Health announced Friday afternoon. IH will be applying for an exemption from Health Canada to operate the site. "In order for people to be able to use drugs under supervision, we need an exemption," said Dr. Silvina Mema, medical health officer with IH. "Health Canada needs to clear us to be able to do that." The application is an onerous one, and IH is currently gathering all the necessary documents to submit it by the end of January, she said. Beyond submitting the application, a timeline for the mobile site is unknown and could take years. "We would hope to hear from Health Canada as soon as possible, because this is a service that is needed, (but) we don't know how long it's going to take for them to get back to us," said Mema. If the exemption application is denied, IH still plans to offer mobile services, but instead of offering supervised injection, its purpose would be overdose prevention. This announcement to pursue a mobile supervised consumption site comes less than two months after IH announced its intention to consider either a mobile site or a fixed site on Leon Avenue. Consultation with community members revealed most people preferred the mobile site option, said Mema. In addition, the majority of drug users are spread between downtown and Rutland, and a mobile unit could serve people in both locations, she said. "We believe a mobile unit will reach more people and have a greater impact," said Dan Allen, president of the Downtown Kelowna Association. "We support Interior Health's decision today to ask Health Canada for approval to create a mobile site." In Kelowna, there were 40 overdose deaths from Jan. 1, 2016 to Nov. 30, 2016, compared to 19 overdose deaths in all of 2015, according to a report released by the BC Coroners Service. In December, IH medical director Dr. Trevor Corneil called the overdose crisis a "black hole." The mobile site will be operated by two staff members: a nurse and a mental health worker or a social worker. "We will be providing some form of primary care nursing services, but also supporting people for when they are ready to either stop using drugs or need more support," said Deborah Preston, health service administrator with Interior Health. Although the site will be mobile, the plan is to have designated stops in the city. "The idea for this service would be for the nurse or the social worker to have some relationship with the people who use drugs and they would know where to find them and there would be stops that are planned so people who use drugs would know where to expect it," said Mema. "We'll also be talking to the neighbours and stakeholders in terms of where the mobile will park." IH ran into problems last month when plans for an overdose prevention site in Rutland were cancelled following backlash from local business owners. An overdose prevention site did open in downtown Kelowna inside the former Kelowna Health Centre on Ellis Street, and the response has been positive, said Mema. "It had a slow start because that is not the natural place for people who use drugs to go for services," she said. "But now we are seeing that people are going and using the service, so that is great news." The number of people using the prevention site is increasing daily, said Preston. "We are having people that are attending more than once throughout the day." The overdose prevention site is open from 12:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, and the plan is to operate the mobile unit from noon to midnight, Tuesday to Saturday. - --- MAP posted-by: