Alberni has 3rd highest death rate in BC

Local experts believe the official numbers are lower that the actual numbers by as much as 10%

Port Alberni Community Action Team co-chair Ron Merk says the province needs to build a recovery and detox centre here

“The first thing we need here in Alberni-Clayoquot is a recovery detox centre that’s accessible and the main criteria is something that you can get into quickly,” he said. “The main stumbling block that most people have is when they’re ready to start healing we measure the access to these recovery centres that are outside of our community in weeks and months rather than hours and minutes.”

Merk says the Tseshaht First Nation has taken the lead on dealing with the opioid overdose crisis and will be meeting with local leaders at the end of this month to develop strategies they’ve been working on for the past year.

According to the BC Coroner’s report, Alberni – Clayoquot had the third highest death rate per capita in the province behind only Vancouver Centre and Hope.