New provincial funding for addictions expected to bring first of its kind service to Windsor
It's a well-known gap in addiction treatment in Windsor-Essex: After detox, people are left waiting weeks or months to get into a recovery program.
Outreach workers and health experts say people often relapse during this waiting period, and some don't end up making it to treatment.
"Sometimes you just lose people, they go through withdrawal management and then they have to wait for an appointment or wait for a treatment bed and that's where the real high risk period is," said Bill Marra, CEO of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
But new funding announced by the province Monday for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub in Windsor-Essex includes a fix: stabilization beds.
Healthcare leaders in the region think these could be a game changer for those on the pathway to recovery.
What are stabilization beds?
Stabilization beds would be available to people who have completed withdrawal management, also known as detox, and are waiting to get into a treatment program.
According to Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team (WEOHT) executive director Joyce Zuk, this type of bed and attached supports for people leaving detox are the first of their kind in the region. WEOHT is one of the co-leads on the HART hub.
Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare's withdrawal program includes having people stay in their facility for four to five days.
Then after detox the person is usually sent home as they wait for treatment.
But Zuk confirmed to CBC News that a stabilization bed will allow someone to stay in supportive programming until they land a spot in a residential addiction treatment facility or a community-based program.
Brentwood Recovery Home, a residential addiction treatment facility, is one of the organizations that will be able to open additional spaces for people looking to recover or stay in transitional housing. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC)
Leslie Laframboise, an outreach worker in downtown Windsor, says this is really needed.
"If they leave detox and they have nowhere to go, they end up back on the street, back using again, back in a bad mental health state, which then it takes a while to get them back to where they want to get back into treatment. So it's just a vicious cycle," she said.
How many beds is the area getting, and where?
Right now, Zuk and Marra, whose organization is also a co-lead on the HART hub, say they have few details. They don't know how many stabilization beds the region will get, but they're expecting more information and a funding letter to arrive soon.
It's also unclear where the beds will be located.
And stabilization beds aren't the only ones expected to be added to the region.
Leslie Laframboise has been an outreach worker in the City of Windsor since 2021. She regularly goes out at night and hands out supplies to people who are living on the streets. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC)
Both Zuk and Marra said the HART hub should also bring additional residential treatment beds and transitional housing beds.
Transitional housing is for people who are in recovery and have just completed an addiction treatment program. These spaces often have social workers or treatment counselors who can help people stay on track, teach them to build routine and support them in getting a job, housing or reuniting them with their children.
Brentwood Recovery Home, a residential treatment facility, is expected to receive some of the funding and open up new treatment and transitional housing beds.
CEO Elizabeth Dulmage said that in the proposal they asked for more treatment beds and at least 34 transitional housing beds. She said Brentwood's transitional units would need some renovations before opening, but she's confident they could quickly be made available.
"It's no secret that the need for treatment beds has far exceeded our capacity to be able to meet those needs and so any additional beds are more welcome than you can imagine," she said.
Dulmage added that she's hopeful the stabilization beds will make a difference by allowing people to come into treatment feeling ready.
Planning has already started for these services and Marra says they'll be slowly ramping up at the beginning of April.
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