Timmins groups plan new addiction recovery facility and hope for Ontario government help

Organizations in Timmins have purchased a localhotel and are now hopeful they can benefit from Ontario's new planto invest $378 million in Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs.

The Cochrane District Services Board (CDSB), the Mushkegowuk Council, Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) andTimmins and District Hospital have teamed up to purchase the Ramada hotel at 1800 Riverside Dr.to build a new wellness centre and health hub for people recovering from addiction.

They're asking the province for $4.4 million annually, from the Addictions Recovery Fund, to support the new facility's operations, and it's hoped it'll be operational in the winter of 2025.

It will be called the Timmins and Area Wellness Centre of Excellence (WCE)and will include withdrawal management programs along with 103 treatment and support beds.

"The province's HART Hub announcement came at the right time. Our delegation was already advocating the WCE at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference when the health minister made the announcement," said Jean Carriere, director of health for the CDSB, in a news release on Tuesday.

"The Wellness Centre of Excellence is more than just a facilityit's a lifeline for our community, which has been calling for this centre for years."

The Cochrane District is a vast geographic areaand home to a diverse population of more than 80,000 thatfaces significant challenges in accessing mental health and addiction services. High rates of addiction,
prolonged service wait times, primary care shortages and gaps in care have all been challenges for years.

"There continues to be a demonstrated need for investments in evidence-based mental health and
addiction services in our region," saidDr. Louisa Marion-Bellemare, a physician atthe Timmins and District Hospital. "In the North, we are known for our innovative approach to health, mental health and social service delivery. Our strength as a system is deeply rooted in the fact that every person deserves the ability to access the care they require, when and where they need it."

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced plans to support 19 HART Hubs, at the same time she said 10 supervised consumption sites would have to close their doorsbecause they were too close to schools or daycare centres.

"Continuing to enable people to use drugs is not a pathway to treatment," Jones said when she announced the new funding.

The new hubs will not include harm reduction services, a decision that has come under a fire from some addiction and harm reduction workers.

"This is not the time to remove life-saving services," said Amber Fritz, manager of outreach and education with Sudbury's Rseau Access Network, which ran the city's safe consumption site until it closed down at the end of March.

"This is the time to scale them up and expand them," Fritz told CBC last month. "I think that this is absolutely horrifying. I think that this will directly contribute to more preventable deaths in all communities that have sites closed or, like ours, never even got a chance to receive provincial funding."

The CDSB is also asking Ontario's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for $1.5 million to help with renovations at the former hotel.

The organization would also like to see an annual increase of $1 million to the province's Homelessness Prevention Program to support transitional housing initiatives in the Cochrane District.