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New Hamilton addiction treatment centre prepares to welcome first clients
The new residential treatment and recovery site operated by Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub opened in Hamilton Monday.
The centre has garnered mixed community reaction since plans to house it in a former residential building on Aberdeen Avenue were announced last summer.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the new treatment centre Monday afternoon, and while the centre is still waiting for a final city inspection, clients won’t be able to move in for a few weeks.
The new facility will have 14 rooms to house and treat people in the later stages of addiction recovery.
At first, 14 men will move in within a couple of weeks and stay for up to three months, and after that 14 women will move in and go through the same treatment program.
“This is the fourth stage in the HART Hub continuum of care, so while clients are here they’ll have a standardized program — a very structured program — they’ll have a schedule that they have to follow,” said Dr. Sandy Ezepue from Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre (HUCCHC). “Different things happen at different times of the day. Obviously they’re going through a treatment curriculum, but also life skills development, so that we can get them ready for community reintegration.”
Over their treatment, clients will receive medical care, recovery counselling and wellness programming, life coaching and 24-7 monitoring.
“They’re working with their counselors and working with the life redesign coach and case management, just to really understand what they need and to wrap supports around them,” said Ezepue.
On a CHCH Newsmakers podcast episode in May, Ezepue said there was extensive consultation with community partners.
“We’ve worked closely with local elected officials, like our councillors and MPP just to keep them informed. And from the onset we’ve worked closely with the City of Hamilton as well, just in terms of getting the permits for the facility,” Ezepue said.
Ruth Greenspan is part of a resident liaison table who was consulted about putting the treatment and recovery centre on Aberdeen Avenue, and said she understood some people’s concerns.
“I think we’ve addressed a number of the issues that neighbours raised, and we also know that issues exist everywhere,” said Greenspan.
But shortly after the news that the site would be located at 276 Aberdeen Ave., Ward 1 Coun. Maureen Wilson said she was surprised to learn about the initiative.
“My surprise stems from the limited information available about the program and its deliverables, as well as whether the undefined program can operate effectively at its identified future location,” Wilson wrote in a letter to her constituents dated August of last year.
She wrote that she attempted to engage with HUCCHC and reached out to various City of Hamilton departments regarding specifics, but that meetings confirmed that the city has no recourse or control over the site, and that the matter is solely within the province’s jurisdiction.
HART Hubs were established by the province to replace consumption and treatment services such as safe injection sites that wrapped up operations last month, which prompted criticism from harm-reduction advocates.
Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre has said there will be round-the-clock staffing at the Aberdeen Avenue location, including security guards, nurses and physicians.
Ezepue assures that the facility is a drug-free facility — an abstinence-based program.
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