A new Community Addictions Hub moves closer to reality for Sarnia-Lambton

It's viewed as a significant advancement in the effort to help people cope with addictions and find a road to recovery.

Now plans for a Community Addictions Hub in Sarnia are beginning to take shape.

Those spearheading the project say it’s gratifying to see that a decades-old dream is finally becoming a reality.

They know that across the country, in communities big and small, first responders working furiously to revive an individual found without vital signs after an apparent overdose.

In the week from June 27 to July 3 Sarnia reported four deaths, a troubling spike and yet another reminder about the growing challenges of drug use.

Now the community is moving forward with a project to reduce the impacts of addictions.

“Individuals can come, first and foremost, to feel safe. To feel that they have a place away from, often, a high-risk lifestyle,” says Paula Reaume-Zimmer, as she outlines the importance of the Community Addictions Hub.

Reaume-Zimmer is VP of integrated services and mental health and addictions for Bluewater Health. She was speaking after project committee members finished a meeting that outlined results of a community consultation process.

Over a dozen in-person engagements took place. As well, there was a confidential online survey made available that saw just under 200 unique responses.

Bluewater Health recently received a $12 million capitol grant and staff are now moving ahead with design and construction of the hub. It will be located in a currently unused portion of Sarnia Hospital.

The consultation heard from a wide range of voices, including those with lived experience, Indigenous community members, and those with healthcare providers.

"This new project is all inclusive," says Laurie Hicks who sits on the project's coordinating committee. She helped launch Ryan's House, a recovery centre named in honour of her son. He died eight years ago after a long struggle with fentanyl addiction.

Hicks says the new centre will offer a greater range of services.

"We will have the short-term detox, withdraw management, we have counselling services. We'll have the longer stay beds for those who do want to continue to rehab,” she says.

While the hub will be located on the Bluewater Health Sarnia hospital grounds, it's being viewed as a very distinct and separate facility.

The committee wanted to ensure clients could feel confident their privacy is being protected.

Reaume-Zimmer says the committee also didn't want it to feel like a hospital. She outlined some of the ways they are trying to make that happen.

"A lot of outdoor, kind of, 'greenspace', is what we want. With some of the programs we run right now, we've learned how important congregate kitchen and dinning is. That a lot of recovery, a lot of fellowship, happens in the kitchen right now, in our models,” she says.

The goal is also to be able to cater treatments to the unique needs of the individual; whether it be cultural considerations, personality differences, even the nature of their addiction.

"We are using medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder,” says Dr. Del Donald, a Sarnia addictions physician who sits on the committee. “It's very helpful, it keeps people in the treatment longer because they're getting real assistance with their withdrawal. Then it, hopefully, keeps them interested in receiving this treatment through their recovery."

With the public input complete, architectural designs are expected to be available in the spring. The goal is to have the facility operating within two to three years.