Greater Campbell River has one of highest rates of drug related deaths in BC.

The first community-based medical detox north of Nanaimo will be opening in Campbell River this Fall. Island Health secured a location at 731 Nicholas Road near the North Island Hospital – Campbell River campus. 

“This is a really exciting addition to Campbell River.  When people living with addiction reach out and make that brave choice of getting the services that they need, we’d need to be able to meet them where they are and with the services that they need right away. This is a new six bed medical detox that the community has been asking  for,” explained  Michele Babchuk, MLA for North Island and a resident of Campbell River. 

“This is part of the Road to Recovery initiative that is a ‘made in BC’ initiative through our government,  that we’re looking to come to full implementation in March of 2025.” 

The province allocated $23.7 million to the Road to Recovery program in the 2023 budget and provided treatment for 4,167 people.  

This news comes in the midst of British Columbia’s toxic drug crisis. According to a 5 year study from the BC Coroners Service, unregulated drug toxicity is the #1 cause of unnatural death among youth in the province. It is worse than suicide or automotive accidents. However the highest death rate is among adults between the ages of 30 and 59. 

 There were 198 suspected drug related deaths in January, which works out to just under 6½ a day. Vancouver, Surrey and Nanaimo were the most affected cities in the province, but North Vancouver Island has one of the worst death rates in the province, when measured proportionately. One of the five most afflicted Local Health Areas was Greater Campbell River. This is the part of eastern Vancouver Island between the Oyster River and Sayward, and also includes islands like Quadra and Cortes. 

Michele Babchuk: “We’ve seen really successful community based detox centers in Nanaimo.”

The new Campbell River Medical Detox will: 

• have staff on site 24/7, 365 days of the year;
• provide physician and nursing oversight and care;
• have scheduled and planned admissions based on clinical assessment;
• have short stays averaging 3 to 10 days followed by seamless transitions and co-ordinated transfers to other supports in the community or at home; and
• provide transportation to and from the detox service if required.

Michele Babchuk: “I’m really excited to have this come to Campbell River so that we can start to serve the North Island population , that’s Quadra,  Cortes, Alert Bay, Sointula , and all the way up to Port Hardy.” 

“The Road to Recovery offers counseling, life skills, medication assisted treatment for opioids alcohol relapse programs.”

“We know that as people go through that journey, it’s not a linear journey. There’s ebbs and flows throughout this whole journey and this program allows that to happen.” 

Cortes Currents: How long have people been asking for this service? 

MIchele Babchuk: “The call for this has been at least  two and a half years, we’ve certainly seen mental health and addictions as a huge issue in Campbell River and it’s progressing more and more as we go along.” 

“A little over a year ago, I believe, Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, stood at a table of partners in Campbell River. There was a huge  and diverse group of people attending. Everyone – from the RCMP, to the Coalition Against Homelessness, to the Downtown Business Improvement Association (BIA) and the City of Campbell River – was there.” 

“When addicts make the brave decision to reach out for those services, we need to be able to get them the service that they need and get them into these programs as quickly as possible. We know  that’s been a bit of a barrier, and that’s what came out of the table of partners. We’ve acted on it, and now we are going to be seeing this facility open up in the Fall of this year.” 

Top image credit: Hard core teen user shooting up – Photo courtesy Drug treatment clinic Parus Moscow via wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

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