Sudbury health officials expect specialized addictions clinic to continue

A specialized addictions clinic in Sudbury, Ont. is expected to continue operating, despite the upcoming end of a provincial pilot project that spawned the initiative, according to health officials in the city.

The Ontario-wide pilot program created seven addictions clinics in the province, and officials in Sudbury said it's been very successful locally.

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"Those who are coming to the clinic have thought about it and now they're acting on that first thought," saidMaureen McLelland, an associate vice president with Health Sciences North.

"[They're] getting into an action mode and moving along a trajectory of recovery."

Health Sciences North, the recipient of the grant funding in Sudbury to create the clinic, operates it three days a week from the hospital's detox centre in the downtown area. Three physicians who work on a rotating basis and one nurse, who specialize in addictions treatment, work with those seeking help.

"It is a continuum and in addictions care we generally don't think cure, we think improved function," McLelland said.

Since the clinic opened in December, 2015, it has seen 71 patients, according to the hospital, and officials said they expect that success will keep the funding in place.

'There are a lot of roads to hell'

The clinic provides individualized care for all substances, with each treatment being tailored to individual clients, said Dr. Mike Franklyn, the clinic's lead physician at Health Sciences North.

"You hear the classic 'I have to hit rick bottom,' but the problem is, I say there are a lot of roads to hell," he said.

"So one of the shortest roads is crystal meth ... you can go from here to dead or hopelessly addicted very quickly. Opiates are not far behind."

The treatment could include support to help people use less of, or abstain from using, a drug, to the substitution of a less harmful substance.

Representatives for each of the seven project sites in Ontario are starting to summarize the results of their year in operation, and are slated to present those findings to provincial funders, including local health integration networks.