The Niagara Ontario Health Team says the upcoming closure of Positive Living Niagara’s Consumption and Treatment Services site in St. Catharines will leave major gaps in care for vulnerable residents.
Since opening in 2019, the site has recorded more than 88,000 visits and over 1500 overdose reversals, while also connecting people with health and social supports.
The health team says the supervised consumption site has helped reduce harm, prevent disease transmission, and ease pressure on emergency services and hospitals.
While the organization welcomes new HART Hub services coming to Niagara, it says those programs are not a replacement for supervised consumption services and should instead work alongside them.
(Written by: Matt Latour)