Every day, 10 to 15 people call Bluewater Health seeking help withdrawing from drug and alcohol dependency, an official says.
Every day, 10 to 15 people call Bluewater Health seeking help withdrawing from drug and alcohol dependency, an official says.
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“On average, we have one or two beds available,” said Donna Morreau, integrated mental health and addictions director with the hospital group and the Lambton-Kent Canadian Mental Health Association branch.
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“The demand has definitely outweighed the availability of a bed when someone is seeking help,” she said.
It’s taken longer than expected to build a 24-bed addictions hub in Sarnia, for which provincial funding was announced in early February 2022, after decades of local pleading.
Bluewater Health officials said at the time they hoped construction would start within two years.
Architectural drawings are being vetted by Ontario’s Health Ministry, said Bluewater Health facilities manager Jack Vanderveen. “We’re thinking six months after approval, we’ll have a contractor ready and picked out.”
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“We don’t know what steps (the ministry is) going through. . . so we can’t really estimate how long it will take” to get drawings approved, he said.
Bluewater Health’s last submission was last month, when he answered ministry questions about earlier drafts, he said.
Once ministry approval comes, Bluewater Health will add things like colors to the plans before sending the project out to tender, he said, a two to three-month process.
Getting Started community input on creating the facility’s vibe, including places for success stories and memorials, wrapped up about a year ago, Morreau said. “A lot of time was spent on that, developing common themes, programming, space design, all of that.”
Since, Bluewater Health hasn’t been idle, Vanderveen said.
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Bids are being sought for an estimated $2-million demolition project, to clear the first three floors of the vacant building beside Sarnia’s hospital that will house the addictions hub, he said.
About $1.7 million in work has been done to the building’s water, sewer and electrical systems, and work orders have been issued to retrofit its elevators, he said. “Just continuing to get that building ready for the actual renovation for occupancy.”
All that work is funded with provincial Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund (HIRF) dollars, he said.
The renovation project — which likely has exceeded the $12.2-million budget announced in 2022, he said — also is 100 per cent ministry funded.
“Which is a very unique partnership with the ministry. . . just due to the high interest and need for this program,” he said.
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Seven interim beds opened six years ago in Sarnia’s hospital, designed to help manage withdrawal symptoms and co-ordinate with long-term rehabilitation services and supports, will be absorbed into the new 24-bed hub, officials have said.
The 12 beds at Ryan’s House, a 30-day stabilization and transitional facility, also will move to the hub, Bluewater Health’s Tara Young said Wednesday. “They are not in addition to the hub beds.”
Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey had said the Ryan’s House beds would remain in the community in addition to the hub beds.
It’s important to move forward “as efficiently as possible,” given the local need, Morreau said.
Bluewater Health also is considering options for the remaining floors in the seven-storey Russell Street building, Vanderveen said.
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Part of the former St. Joseph’s Hospital, later called Bluewater Health’s Norman Street site before the hospital corporation merged the two Sarnia hospital sites about 2011. The other building, the former Sarnia General Hospital off Mitton Street, was demolished around 2018.
The Russell Street building’s top floor is used for mechanical services, Vanderveen said, but there are no plans for floors three through six.
“We’re going to spend some time, once this (addictions hub) project is underway, to get a better understanding of long-term goals of the organization and if it makes sense to do further (building) renovation(s),” he said, noting Bluewater Health has no funding for such work.
“There are lots of thoughts and wishes for that building, it’s just what makes sense,” he said.
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