Ontario's Minister of Health and Long-Term Care has announced that the province will extend funding for London's temporary overdose prevention site.
Christine Elliott made the announcement Thursday while prodded by London North Centre MPP Terence Kernaghan during question period.
"The particular site in London, we are looking at a temporary situation, to extend its time for us to continue with this investigation, and that is what I'm hoping to do within the next few days," said Elliot. "We don't want them to stop the work while our investigation is ongoing."
Provincial approval of the operation was originally given six months and was set to expire on Aug. 15.
The site located at 186 King St. opened in February of this year.
Users bring their drugs to the location and have medical professionals oversee the person's injection. Up to 70 people use the site on a daily basis since it opened. Over 5000 people have used the facility and seven overdoses have been prevented since it opened on Feb. 12.
The London-Middlesex Health Unit is still working toward securing a permanent supervised consumption site.
During the spring election campaign, Premier Doug Ford said he was opposed to safe injection and overdose prevention sites, though his party says Ford has committed to reviewing evidence on the issue.
