Ten publicly funded residential treatment beds are available at Nanaimo's Edgewood Treatment Centre. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

treatment bed investment

Free treatment beds announced for Vancouver Island, including Nanaimo

Oct 26, 2023 | 12:41 PM

NANAIMO — Amid a spiraling toxic drug crisis gripping the province, new no-cost residential treatment services are aimed at helping people turn their lives around.

On Thursday, Oct 26 mental health and addictions minister Jennifer Whiteside announced 40 publicly funded substance-use treatment beds are now serving clients on the mid and south Island regions.

Ten of the beds are available at Edgewood Treatment Centre in Nanaimo.

Following treatment of 50 to 90 days at the participating facilities, minister Whiteside said a nine to 12-month-long after care program is in place.

“Because we know that the ongoing support and connection and community that people find when they are on their recovery journey is critical to set them up for long-term success,” Whiteside told a news conference in Victoria.

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Fifteen of the beds are available at Cedars Recovery Centre in Cobble Hill, while 10 Indigenous-focused beds are offered at Kackaamin Family Development Centre in Port Alberni, and five spaces at a North Saanich facility.

The province estimates the no-charge access treatment beds supported by $8 million in annual funding will serve about 200 people every year.

The service can be obtained through a healthcare professional.

Whiteside said a procurement process underway now will deliver another 105 no-cost residential treatment beds across the province.

“We are working to correct a fragmented, privatized, unregulated kind of collection of services that we inherited when we formed government and build up a real system that provides access to people.”

Dana Leik, a director of mental health and substance use director with Island Health, expanded on the value of intensive residential treatment programs on Vancouver Island.

“It is a much-needed enhancement to Island Health’s continuum of services and support for people with substance use (issues). The new treatment beds are open to any resident of Island Health regardless of where they live.”

Leik said it’s essential to broaden the number of regionally accessible treatment programs, pointing to many people looking for help forced to look beyond Vancouver Island.

“This meant leaving ones family, support systems behind, navigating the ferries, complex transportation planning and spending anywhere up to 90 days in a strange city or unfamiliar setting.”

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes