Latest news with #HARTHubs
CBC
04-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Number of non-fatal overdoses Toronto paramedics respond to is declining, city data shows
Social Sharing Recent city data shows the number of non-fatal suspected overdoses paramedics respond to has declined over the last six months. The figures were collected by Toronto Public Health in collaboration with Toronto Paramedic Services using the calls it receives each month. In September, there were 357 reported non-fatal suspected overdoses, a number that fell to 163 in February. Fatal overdoses during that period were comparable. The decrease in non-fatal overdoses is welcome, but it's too early to celebrate, says community worker Diana Chan McNally. "The death toll remains extremely high," she told CBC Toronto, comparing current rates to what they were 10 years ago, before the drug toxicity crisis began to escalate. According to the Toronto Overdose Information System, there were 137 opioid toxicity deaths in 2015 compared to 528 probable and confirmed deaths tallied in 2023 — up nearly four-fold. The latest data was published at the same time the province is undergoing a significant drug policy shift. The government is funding the transformation of supervised drug consumption sites into homelessness and treatment centres known as HART Hubs. Some health-care workers and advocates worry about what kind of impact it will have on overdose rates. "I think you're going to see that there will be a steep uprise, not just a moderate one," Chan McNally said. "We've eliminated a life-saving service which isn't being replicated." WATCH | Rough start to HART Hubs, officials say: Ontario opens homelessness and addiction hubs, replacing consumption sites 2 days ago Duration 2:34 At a news conference on Tuesday, Toronto's Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Na-Koshie Lamptey also voiced concern, saying that an increase in overdose deaths is probable. "To date, across our supervised consumption sites there has never been a fatal overdose, so there's strong evidence that they work," Lamptey said. CBC Toronto asked the province whether it had data showing overdoses would not rise with the closing of supervised consumption sites. In an email, the minister of health's press secretary Ema Popovic wrote that the nine transitioning sites will ensure "the continuity of mental health support services to help people break the cycle of addiction while protecting children and families from violent crime and dangerous public drug use that occurred at drug injection sites located near schools and daycares." In 2023, Karolina Huebner-Makurat, a 44-year-old mother of two, died in hospital after she was hit by a stray bullet near a Leslieville supervised consumption site. Her death sparked a provincial review of the sites, which was followed by legislation that bans any supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of a school or daycare. What's driving the 'mysterious' decrease? Health-care experts and community workers, including Lamptey and Chan McNally, say they've been tracking a dip in non-fatal overdoses across provincial jurisdictions. However, they can't decipher a clear explanation. "Unfortunately, it remains really mysterious," Chan McNally said, pointing out that policy approaches differ across the country. Coun. Chris Moise, chair of Toronto's board of health, says he attributes the city's numbers to "the hard work of our frontline workers … and the education and the trust that they have in us and our partners. That's really been the driving force, I believe." Hayley Thompson, the managing director of Toronto's Drug Tracking Service housed within St. Michael's Hospital, says she could only speculate based on what her team is seeing inside the drug supply. "It would be reasonable to assume, based on the data from our service, that it could be as a result of a decrease in the actual amount of fentanyl in the fentanyl supply," Thompson said. "But that's not to say overdoses aren't the only adverse health outcome that results from the toxic drug supply crisis." Thompson says her team is seeing benzodiazepines present in up to 40 per cent of expected fentanyl samples and veterinary tranquilizers in over 80 per cent of samples. On Wednesday in York Region, police issued a warning after three people overdosed on the same day in different communities due to tainted fentanyl. Because the unregulated drug supply is volatile, it makes it hard to know what to anticipate and plan for, Thompson says.
CBC
27-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
This northwestern Ontario town was denied a HART Hub, so it's creating its own model instead
Fort Frances isn't getting one of Ontario's new Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs, but local leaders aren't giving up, instead promoting a strategy of wraparound support for the community's most vulnerable. The HART Hubs, first announced in the summer, are intended to provide primary care, employment support, and mental health, addiction and social services. They're replacing a number of supervised consumption sites across Ontario that are being forced to close at the end of March due to new rules saying they cannot be within 200 metres of schools or child-care centres. The legality of the sites' upcoming closures is currently being challenged in court. Thunder Bay has the only remaining supervised consumption site in northwestern Ontario. Path 525 is expected to be replaced by a HART Hub next month. Further west, Kenora will also be opening a HART Hub this spring. However, the District of Rainy River Services Board (DRRSB) says its application in Fort Frances was rejected. "Should another round of HART Hub funding become available for us to apply, absolutely, we'll be applying," said Sandra Weir, integrated services manager with the DRRSB. "But we still want to keep the concept of being able to have the wraparound services." One of the ways the DRRSB aims to do this is through the HOPE (Housing, Opportunity, Progress, Empowerment) Transitional House in Fort Frances, which opened in mid-February. The house — a renovated church — consists of six beds where people can stay for up to a year and receive on-site support as they look to shift into long-term housing. "It's a critical step between stability and self-sufficiency," Weir said of transitional housing. "It provides not only a roof for individuals that are needing some support, but it also gives them access to resources within the community." The church also hosts the town's Safe Bed program, run by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), for people experiencing a mental health or addictions crisis. In the winter, it houses the Out of the Cold Warming Centre. HART Hub would be 'money well spent' The HART Hub model has received criticism for shifting away from a harm reduction approach to addiction, and instead encouraging an abstinence-based model. Unlike supervised consumption sites, HART Hubs won't allow supervised drug consumption, safer supply or needle exchange programs. Supervised consumption sites have 'not solved the problem,' minister says 7 months ago Duration 2:50 Health Minister Sylvia Jones says Ontario will ban supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres. She also announced $378 million for new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. For Weir, what appeals to her about the HART Hubs is how they allow a slate of supports under one roof. Ninety-four people on the DRRSB's by-name list are known to be experiencing homelessness in the Rainy River district, she said. While about 19,400 people live across the district, Fort Frances is the area's service hub, with a population of roughly 7,400 people. Due to its size and the number of people from surrounding communities and the First Nations it serves, the border town faces many challenges when it comes to helping those in need, Weir said. Andrew Hallikas, the town's mayor and vice-chair of the DRRSB, said he was disappointed when the HART Hub application was rejected, but "that's not gonna deter us." He said he's hopeful the province will reconsider the community in the next round of applications. "It really helps if you can concentrate your services in one location and it really helps when you have a number of organizations working together so we're not duplicating services," Hallikas said. "We really think that a HART Hub in Fort Frances would be money well spent." The DRRSB has renovated the third floor of the HOPE Transitional House, and while it doesn't have funding to expand further at this point, Weir said it hopes to eventually bring more centralized services there. "We know that with wraparound services, people will get the support that they need in various ways because a lot of times, it's not just about one thing. "It could be a health-care problem, a mental health problem, an addiction problem — it could be something traumatic that had happened, that they need support from different agencies to be able to move forward and be successful within our community," she said.
CBC
12-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Funding delay means Guelph HART Hub won't be fully operational on time
CTS sites will be replaced by HART Hubs by next month 2 hours ago Duration 1:50 There are only about twenty days left until nine consumption and treatment services (CTS) locations are set to close across Ontario, including one in Kitchener and one in Guelph. Those facilities will be replaced by Homelessness and Addictions Recovery Treatment — or HART — Hubs. Melissa Kwiatkowski is the CEO of the Guelph Community Health Centre, which is the home of the new HART Hub in Guelph. She spoke to CBC's Aastha Shetty about winding down CTS services in the city. As the consumption and treatment services (CTS) site winds down in Guelph, the service set to replace it will not be fully operational in time. Instead, the Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub will only offer a portion of its services, while the new and more pricey services like crisis and withdrawal recovery beds and supportive housing units will be placed on hold. Melissa Kwiatkowski is the CEO of Guelph Community Health Centre (GCHC), the organization who will run the HART Hub. She said the delay is because the provincial government still hasn't sent a funding agreement. "I know how much we asked for, but we don't know how much we're getting," she said in an Interview with CBC News. "We can't spend money we don't have." While Guelph's HART Hub will still provide wrap-around health and support services starting April 1, Kwiatkowski said, "the delay in getting confirmation of funding definitely impacts our timing on when we can have services up and running." In an email to CBC News, Ontario's Ministry of Health said they continue to work with HART Hub partners to collect information for their multi-year budgets. "The first round of funding has been approved by the Ministry and will be received by the sites early next week," the email said. The Ontario government is investing $378 million to create a total of 19 hubs across the province. By March 31, it's expected that there will be nine HART hubs, located in Guelph, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Kitchener and four in Toronto. Transition away from supervised consumption HART Hubs are replacements for any CTS site in Ontario located within 200 metres of a school or daycare, as mandated by the provincial government last year. The main difference between the two services is that while CTS provides a space for clients to bring and use outside drugs while under supervision by health and support professionals, HART Hubs prohibit the use of drugs. Instead, HART Hubs provide beds for people in crisis or experiencing withdrawal as well as supportive housing units. Kwiatkowski said these new services are a welcome addition and essential to the recovery process, but "HART Hub services are not a replacement for supervised consumption." "We need to be adding more services to the care continuum, not taking them away," she said, adding that "for many people, supervised consumption services are a very, very low barrier entry point into the broader system of more health supports." Through the CTS location Kwiatkowski's GCHC has operated over the past five years, and she said more than 1,000 people have been connected to primary care. "Those people wouldn't have gotten access to primary care if they hadn't come through CTS," she said. "That door is going to be closing for people." To account for the transition from CTS to the HART Hub model at the downtown Guelph GCHC, supervised consumption hours are being slowly reduced for the remainder of the month. Kwiatkowski said she's telling clients about the change in service, but if they show up on April 1 they can expect to see the same staff present, even if all the same services aren't being offered. HART Hub in Kitchener In an email to CBC News, Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo, operators of Kitchener's future HART Hub location, CEO Tara Groves-Taylor said they're in communication with the Ministry of Health and expect to receive their funding agreement shortly. "The HART Hub of Waterloo Region will open April 1, 2025, with scaled services available, and will transition to the full model of Hart Hub programs and services over several months," said Groves-Taylor.
