Windsor Regional Hospital is reporting a large spike in opioid cases in the past year.
Officials say they see at least one overdose every single day, and if there is a festival in the community, they see more.
“We've seen a huge spike in the last year with the number of cases with much stronger opioids that are ending up in the communities” says Karen Riddell, the interim vice president of critical care, cardiology and stroke at WRH.
But it’s not due to illicit drug use.
Riddell says people who are in chronic or acute pain and have become addicted to pain killers.
In fact, she says the increase in these cases is alarming.
Hospital stats show more people in the older age group, from 45 to 65, have been hospitalized, and the death rate is slightly higher than the younger group.
Riddell adds they are focusing more of their efforts on opioids.
“We've been doing a lot of work within the hospital both on the management of those patients as well as protecting our staff from possible exposure to those drugs” adds Riddell.
