Back to SearchKINGSTON – The number of opioid overdoses continues to rise across Ontario, and to address this present and growing problem in our community, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care announced funding for an Overdose Prevention Site at Kingston Community Health Centre - Street Health Centre earlier today.
An Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) is a safe, supportive space where people may engage in the supervised consumption of their substances. This supervision reduces the likelihood of adverse outcomes like fatal overdoses and is an extension of existing harm reduction programs that provide easy-to-access, life-saving harm reduction services in a stigma-free environment, to help reduce the growing number of opioid-related overdose deaths.
The OPS will provide:
- supervised injection,
- harm reduction supplies, including disposal of used supplies,
- naloxone, and
- connection with community support workers.
The site may also provide additional services based on local need and capacity and is located within Street Health Centre, a well known and accessed clinic which offers treatment, counselling, mental health, and harm reduction services.
“The Ministry’s approval of the OPS represents an important step in combating overdose deaths in our community. This service is one part of a broader strategy to address the immediate need to save lives in addition to the root causes that lead people to use substances in a harmful way,” said Dr. Fareen Karachiwalla, Associate Medical Officer of Health at KFL&A Public Health.
"This is a unique initiative for Frontenac Paramedic Services and we welcome the opportunity to contribute to the solution of a deeply rooted and complicated health care crisis in our area,” said Paul Charbonneau, Chief Paramedic at Frontenac Paramedic Services.
Kingston’s OPS will be located within Kingston Community Health Centre-Street Health Centre (115 Barrack St., Kingston, Ontario). Anyone is welcome to come to the OPS, which will be open 7 days a week, between the hours of 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The OPS is a drop-in service and does not require an appointment or a referral to access the site.
“Our government is committed to working closely with partners across the province, including those in Kingston. It is incumbent upon us to help reduce the growing number of opioid-related overdose deaths and combat this urgent issue. The staff at Street Health have made a significant impact in our community in harm reduction and this funding will ensure that their efforts are further supported—and will continue to support, the most vulnerable,” said Sophie Kiwala, MPP for Kingston and the Islands.
An open house inviting key community groups and the media will be hosted in the near future at the Street Health Centre OPS location.
Kingston’s death rate from opioids is higher than the provincial average. In 2016, there were more than 850 overdose deaths, 4,427 emergency department visits and 1,906 hospital admissions related to opioids, in Ontario.
An OPS is only one community intervention in a multi-pronged approach to address the opioid crisis. Similar interventions in other provinces have shown them to be an effective way to respond to overdoses and to engage with a vulnerable population that doesn’t often seek out care and often experience many barriers to accessing health-related services. OPS’s allow for engagement and connection to other services and this pilot in particular will allow the community to gain valuable knowledge from the people who use the service.
The OPS in our region represents a partnership between Kingston Community Health Centre - Street Health Centre, Frontenac Paramedic Services, HIV/AIDS Regional Services (HARS), and KFL&A Public Health though a number of different community agencies have shown their support, including the Community Drug Strategy Advisory committee, Addictions Mental Health, and Kingston Health Sciences Centre.
-30-
Subscribe