Planned new and expanded Addiction Services will mean more services for more Kings County residents in their own communities, indicated Eastern Kings Health Board Chair Boyd Rose at a community meeting in Souris Tuesday evening.
Mr. Rose advised the 70 people attending the meeting that the Eastern Kings Health Board welcomes the expanded Regional Addictions programs.
"Contrary to some misperceptions, the Addictions Centre on Breakwater Street in Souris will continue to provide Addictions services to residents of Eastern Kings," he said. "Some people have misinterpreted the closure of Souris's inpatient detoxification beds as the equivalent to closing the Addictions Centre altogether. Instead, with the introduction of new seven-day-a-week outpatient detoxification services, combined with new and expanded rehab and educational programs for youth and women, the number of clients served out of the Souris Centre should significantly increase," he said.
Occupancy rates at the Souris Detox Centre have been steadily declining in recent years to 47 per cent in 1997-1998. "This is definitely a credit to the good work of our Addictions staff and our self-help community," he said.
Mr. Rose acknowledged concerns expressed regarding the closure of the inpatient detoxification beds upon completion of the new provincial inpatient Detoxification/ Rehabilitation Facility. "While this may mean greater travel for Eastern Kings residents, it will not mean a loss of jobs in the community. For residents of Kings County and clients across the province, the new state-of-the-art provincial facility should provide a superior range of professional support services, more customized accommodations and programs for women and youth, as well as needed 24-hour access ," said Mr. Rose.
He acknowledged that transportation to Mount Herbert could pose a difficulty for some clients. However, he indicated that a volunteer network is now in place in Eastern Kings to assist with transportation to the Souris facility, and this network along with the back-up support of self-help groups and the Region should help to alleviate this concern.
At present, the Kings County facility serves some clients from Prince and Queens Counties, just as some Kings County residents prefer to access other provincial facilities. "Residents of Eastern Kings are accustomed to driving to the QEH for some medical services. Similarly we expect that clients will appreciate the superior facility and services that one provincial inpatient Detox Centre will offer," he said.
Mark MacPherson, Eastern Kings Health CEO, said that economically, the new Addictions plan will have little impact either on Souris or Eastern Kings.
Aside from the Souris Addictions Centre remaining open and expanding its current menu of services, all eighteen permanent staff currently working for Eastern Kings Addictions Services will be offered positions based in Souris under the new plan. "For most, there will be a commitment required to take in-house retraining to better equip them for more varied or somewhat different responsibilities. And for many, a similar commitment to travel to Montague on a rotating basis could be expected as Southern Kings opens up its own Addiction Services Centre complete with outpatient, rehabilitation, and educational services similar to what will be offered out of Souris," he said.
"However the bottom line will translate into a greater range of more accessible services for the residents of Kings County within comparable budgets and staff levels," he said.