Data from Public Health Ontario is showing the opioid crisis in Windsor-Essex is not going away.
Statistics released Thursday shows six people in Windsor Essex died from opioid related causes in May and June.
During the first six months of 2018 shows 16 people have died in Windsor-Essex from opioid-related causes.
That compares to 36 deaths in all of 2017.
“It's just overwhelming to hear a number like that and to see how much it's gradually gone up in the last couple years in Windsor,” says Bianca Oliverio, the co-owner of the Spiritual Soldiers, a coffee shop on Erie Street that raises awareness about addiction issues. “It is heart wrenching.”
Oliverio was once addicted to opioids but has been recovering for two years and has been sober for 10 months.
The stats also show there were 90 opioid-related emergency department visits in the first six months of 2018, compared to 196 in all of 2017.
As for hospitalizations, there were 30 opioid-related cases in the first six months of 2018 and 64 throughout 2017.
“From the numbers that we're seeing it's certainly a more prevalent problem than it was two years ago, five years ago,” admits Steve Irwin of Windsor Regional Hospital.
Irwin tells CTV Windsor the hospital is going to announce new developments on how the emergency department plans to address the growing addictions issue. That could happen as early as Friday or it could be announced next week.
Stats from Chatham-Kent show one person died from opioids in the first six months of 2018. There have also been 30 opioid related emergency department visits during that time period in Chatham-Kent.
Since 2003, the number of opioid-related deaths in Ontario has increased 246 per cent.
More than 1,250 Ontarians died from opioid-related causes in 2017.
