The Sandy Hill Community Health Centre is moving ahead with its plan to build a supervised injection site in Ottawa.
At a Board of Directors meeting Wednesday evening, the Board agreed to submit and exemption application to Health Canada which, if approved, would allow the CHC to install a supervised injection site.
Rob Boyd, the director of the Oasis harm reduction program at the Sandy Hill CHC told CFRA’s Ottawa Now, the hope is to have a site up and running as soon as possible.
“We’re very concerned about, first of all, the ongoing overdose crisis that we’ve been experiencing for a number of years, here in Ottawa,” Boyd said. “But, in particular, we’re concerned about the potential for this really amplifying and exploding with the emergence of these illicit powdered fentanyls that have been found on the streets in Ontario.”
A recent Mainstreet Research poll, conducted for Postmedia, found 53 per cent of respondents were in favour of such a site being available in Ottawa. It’s a result Boyd says he’s pleased to hear.
“This poll is an indication that public opinion has really shifted on this,” Boyd said. “I think that people have made a recognition that this is a behavior that, for the short term, is certainly going to be continuing. When people have had some time to think about this and weight the pros and cons, more and more people are now leaning toward the idea that this is probably something that should be part of our addictions strategy here in the City of Ottawa.”
The Sandy Hill CHC estimates the annual cost of a supervised injection site would be $1.4 million.
Both Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Police Chief Charles Bordeleau have come out against having a supervised injection site in Ottawa in the past, though Watson has since left the decision in the hands of the Public Health board.