CUPE says provincial funding cuts will be impacting the residential addiction treatment centre program and its 29 inpatient beds at the North Bay Regional Health Centre.

Michael Hurley, the vice president of CUPE Ontario says the inpatient program is being replaced with an outpatient service and this will have a devastating impact .

“We’re going to see a collapse in the success rate of the treatment programs as a result of the withdrawal of the residential treatments. We’re predicting we’re going to see an increase in the number of overdoses and that will impact the emergency room,” he says.

He says a residential stay is extremely helpful for people who are trying to break a drug or alcohol habit as opposed to being an outpatient.

“The program will likely be less successful. A higher percentage will likely go back to using drugs or alcohol. Some of those people are going to die right, Hurley says.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli says “This is continued fear mongering and politically-motivated rhetoric from the usual critics.

He says the comments are based purely on speculation, while the government focuses on the facts.

He says the fact is the health care budget is being increased $1.9 billion, including an additional $384 million for hospitals and in Nipissing,the government has added $4.5 million in funding for the North Bay Regional Health Centre to address the hallway medicine issue.

Fedeli says the government is delivering real action by investing a historic $3.8 billion over the next 10 years to build a comprehensive, integrated and connected mental health and addictions system.
This is a reinvestment in community addiction services to help more people access addictions help.

Any suggestion to the contrary is simply dishonest and shameful.

Hurley says they are planning a vigil to save North Bay’s Addiction Services next Monday outside Fedeli’s constituency office.

(photo by station staff)

Filed under: Addictions, CUPE Ontario, MPP Vic Fedeli, North Bay Regional Health Centre