HIV Community Link hopes to learn from other supervised consumption sites
By Gillian Slade on August 25, 2018.
Individual booths like these will be part of the Supervised Consumption Services planned for Medicine Hat. Initially six consumption booths and two inhalation booths were planned but there may be more based on ongoing research that gives an indication of how many people will use the facility. -- SUBMITTED PHOTOgslade@medicinehatnews.com @MHNGillianSlade Obtaining the required Health Canada exemption permit for a supervised consumption site in Medicine Hat requires an inspection of the actual facility and a site has not even been chosen yet, says HIV Community Link, the group that is establishing the facility. In the meantime, the group says it is learning from other sites, already operating, to avoid some of the pitfalls. “Our initial plan was to have six consumption booths and two inhalation booths but I suspect that we will plan for more than that based on what we’re seeing out of Lethbridge and opportunity to learn from what their challenges have been as they’ve implemented their services,” said Leslie Hill, executive director HIV Community Link. “The one in Calgary has six booths and that’s met their needs so far.” The context in Medicine Hat is a little different in terms of the projection of people likely to seek services in Medicine Hat, said Hill. The plan that was developed six months ago is being revisited to address emerging evidence. If all of the booths are in use, a client would still have a place to wait inside the consumption site, said Hill. The entrance will lead directly into a waiting area rather than to the booths, said Hill, who believes clients are easily able to wait 10 or 15 minutes for a booth to become available. When the Lethbridge supervised consumption site first opened there were waits of more than hour and that was not feasible, she said. “We have the opportunity to learn from that,” said Hill. The application for an exemption permit from Health Canada required to operate a supervised consumption site — which allows clients to bring illegal substances to consume on site — was submitted at the end of June but is incomplete, said Hill. “We submitted our application in incomplete form just to start the process. We’ve submitted policies and procedures … We’re still currently doing our community engagement process and we’ve done our focus groups,” said Hill. That community consultation phase was lacking in Lethbridge, according to Peggy Charter-Pohl at Bert and Mac Sports, situated directly opposite from that city’s supervised consumption site. “The other piece is that we still need to identify a site,” said Hill. “Once the site’s identified we develop a floor plan and do the capital improvements and then they come tour the facility. They’re looking for some very specific things around the security of the space and how we can show the movement of illicit substances through this space and that type of thing. They come and inspect the facility before the exemption is received.” Hill says a decision on a location has not yet been made. “We’re actually still exploring locations and there isn’t anything set in stone,” said Hill. “I know this rumour is going around (about the former Captain’s Cabin being a potential location) and it is one of the locations that we’ve considered. Nothing’s been ruled out, but there isn’t anything formally chosen at this point.” Several business people near the “rumoured” site on Maple Avenue have expressed concerns about the potential impact on them and their customers if the supervised consumption site is placed there. Brian DeJong, business manager for the company that owns multiple Tim Hortons locations, says he is concerned because already they are seeing more needles left in bathrooms and in the garbage. The possibility of people congregating outside the restaurant is also a concern to him. De Jong believes there could be an economic risk to Medicine Hat and the possibility of efforts made to improve the downtown core being wasted. Hill says the consumption site location needs to be in close proximity to those who will use the facility because they will not travel a distance to get to one. HIV Community Link received $900,000 in startup funding from Alberta Health to establish a consumption site in Medicine Hat and $86,500 to complete a needs assessment to support its proposal to Health Canada. They will receive about $1.9 million annually for operating costs. More information can be found online at http://www.medicinehatscs.com/ 19
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