Journal Staff
Planning has begun on a 16-bed residential addiction treatment centre in Sarnia-Lambton.
A steering committee has been assembled and an architectural firm hired, Bluewater Health officials say.
The committee will begin assessing the needs of clients and planning the design and construction of the building.
And the Toronto-based firm DIALOG will develop a timetable and prepare architectural drawing for discussion. It will also identify site requirements and options.
Exactly where the facility will be located is not yet known, said Lynda Robinson, the hospital’s Vice-President of Operations and chair of the steering committee.
“We are not in a position to determine the location of the facility, until we have defined and can address very specific client needs,” she said.
Ontario has said it will fund a residential facility and Lambton County has offered to pay $250,000 toward the building.
On May 1 the hospital launched the first step, an outpatient detox program, which has helped more than 100 people with mild to moderate addiction. Clients are seen in various locations, such as homeless shelters and the health unit, to get help kicking street drugs, alcohol and prescription medications.
Until a treatment centre is built locally anyone needing residential detox is being referred to Windsor or London.
For more, visit www.bluewaterhealth.ca and click on programs and services/withdrawal management program, or call 519-464-HOPE.