Pubdate: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Contact: http://www.calgaryherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Meghan Potkins Page: A3 $1.2M PLEDGED FOR SUPERVISED DRUG-USE SITE Associate minister confident Ottawa will approve proposal for Beltway operation A proposed supervised drug-consumption site at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre will receive a $1.2-million funding boost from the province, as the number of fentanyl-related overdoses in Alberta continues to mount. Associate minister of health Brandy Payne said the funds will go toward renovating the Beltline health centre that is expected to eventually house Calgary's first supervised drug-consumption site. No timeline for the facility's opening has been confirmed, but Payne said the latest data on drug deaths across the province reaffirms the need for harm-reduction services. "We're certainly seeing higher rates (of overdose) in Calgary and Edmonton, which is why it's important that we're moving forward with services like supervised consumption services to be able to help address some of those needs in those communities," Payne told reporters gathered for a press conference in the lobby of the Sheldon Chumir. A new quarterly report suggests the pace of drug deaths across the province has not relented. Alberta saw 241 fentanyl-related deaths in the first six months of 2017, a 54 per cent increase compared with the same period last year. Calgary continues to have the highest rate of fentanyl deaths at 13.1 per 100,000 people. The provincial average is 11.3, according to data collected between April and June. "We're approaching two deaths a day and the minister is saying she's working hard with the federal government to get approval for these safe consumption sites. Come on, it's been months," Liberal MLA David Swann said Wednesday. "What is the federal government doing and what is the provincial government doing to facilitate this life-saving service?" Alberta Health Services submitted an application to the federal government last May seeking approval for a site in Calgary. The application is under review by Health Canada. The site would provide people with sterile equipment and encourage safer drug-usepractises. Urgent-care staff would be nearby to respond in the case of an overdose. Those looking to get into treatment would also have ready access to the Chumir's opioid dependency program. Payne told reporters Wednesday that Sheldon Chumir is an ideal location for the service, and she fully expects the site will be approved. "My hope would be tomorrow but, unfortunately, that's just not logistically possible. We're doing everything that we can to expedite the process," Payne said. The province has also pledged $1.03 million to support needs assessments and the development of federal applications for services and programs in other parts of the province. There are six applications before Health Canada for supervised consumption sites in Alberta: four in Edmonton, one in Lethbridge and one in Calgary. A framework to evaluate the effect of the sites will be developed and implemented at the urging of the province's Opioid Emergency Response Commission. The province will track how supervised consumption sites affect overdose numbers, as well as the amount of used needles and public disturbances found in and around the site. "We want to measure how the Alberta sites are doing as well, so that we're able to share that information with the community," Payne said. The latest data suggests higher-than-average rates of opioid overdoses occur in the Calgary Centre, Calgary East and the Nose Hill areas, but the majority of people who died of overdoses lived outside the urban core. More than 80 per cent of those who overdosed on fentanyl were men. The age group most at risk is between 30 and 34 years old, according to provincial data released online. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt