A new withdrawal management service coming to the Chatham-Kent hospital group has received another significant financial boost.
The Canadian Mental Health Association Lambton Kent made a $150,000 donation Friday pegged for capital improvements needed to create a 10-bed unit at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, which remains on track to be constructed by the end of June.
The two organizations have a strong partnership that helped secure $1.3 million in annual provincial funding to operate the service. But about $1.5 million needs to be raised to complete the necessary renovations.
Stephanie DeVito, clinical supervisor of outpatient mental health and addiction programs at the health alliance, said there is relief among her colleagues knowing that withdrawal services are coming to the community.
Having worked in various social work and therapy roles, DeVito said she has walked alongside individuals and families “through some of the most difficult and vulnerable experiences in their lives.”
Noting addiction doesn’t discriminate, she said she knows most people “have been touched by the despair that addiction can create.”
Local residents wanting to enter withdrawal services previously had to go to London, Windsor or Sarnia to find a bed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, DeVito said was especially difficult to find an available withdrawal bed – and she’s seen the impact this has had.
“I have stood with individuals motivated to make a change, who have taken one of the most difficult steps of reaching out for help and have had to tell them that there is no bed, transportation is an issue, or that they need to leave a community that they’re comfortable in to access services,” DeVito said.
Three interim withdrawal beds available at the Chatham hospital since March 15 are already making a difference, she said.
“It has been so amazing to not have to call other communities for beds, especially since the lack of beds has increased since COVID.”
DeVito has also seen the excitement and hope the announcement of this service has created among “anyone I have spoken to who has experienced the throats of addiction.”
Becky Bellavance, chair of the Canadian Mental Health Association Lambton Kent board of directors, said the new withdrawal unit reflects the need for more compassion during difficult times.
“The world has shifted during these past two years,” Bellavance said.
“Between a global pandemic and world events, we’ve all lived through difficult and strange times. Perhaps we have learned that we need more care more compassion and more empathy for those around us.”
She said the establishment of the withdrawal unit is “the embodiment of that care, compassion and empathy.”