The President and CEO of Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare plans to deliver a proposal to the provincial government to deal with youth addictions.
Janice Kaffer admits there is no easy solution, but she supports the idea of a safe injection site in Windsor.
Her comments follow four suspected overdose deaths in the city on the weekend.
“I’m a little worried we might see these headlines again,” says Kaffer.
Still, Kaffer tells CTV Windsor they need to look at the bigger picture.
“If the only thing we're going to talk about is whether or not we have a safe injection site, where the safe injection is going to be, it isn't the right thing or the wrong thing,” says Kaffer. “We're completely missing the boat as a community. There is more to this picture.”
Essex-Windsor EMS also confirm to CTV News that paramedics rushed three other suspected overdose victims to hospital on the weekend. All of them survived.
Kaffer tells CTV Windsor she will deliver a proposal to the Ontario Minister of Health in the next couple of weeks dealing with the gap that exists for youth addictions in the community.
She suggests there is a shortfall in harm reduction based treatment.
“We're hoping to get some attention from the minister of health to say there is an opportunity to work with willing partners to immediately expand treatment options in Windsor-Essex,” adds Kaffer.
Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Wajid Ahmed, agrees.
“We need a better system where we can send those people who ended up in the hospital to treatment in rehab centres,” says Dr. Wajid Ahmed, the Medical Officer of Health. “We know we have a lack of those services out there in the community and that's what we'll be advocating for with the province.”
Mayor Drew Dilkens still wants to have a conversation in the community about drug addictions.
“I think it's right for the community to have the conversation on whether they want to see additional treatment and facilities and options made available,” says Dilkens. “We need to really work with the provincial government to have that funding made available.”
Windsor police chief Al Frederick says he doesn’t want to see a safe injection site in the city.
Frederick also doesn’t want his officers to use naloxone kits, even though the provincial government has introduced legislation to make it easier for police to use the potential drug saving medication.
