WECHU board supports 'compromise' allowing SafePoint to open at previously approved location
The Windsor-Essex Board of Health will move ahead with a compromise that will allow the SafePoint consumption and treatment site (CTS) to open at its previously approved location as soon as possible.
Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino withdrew a motion Monday requesting council to rescind its support of 101 Wyandotte St. E. as the location for the CTS. Instead, council said the motion would not be heard after a “compromise” as reached with health officials in the region. During a Windsor-Essex County Health Unit board meeting Friday, new details were shared on what exactly the compromise will look like.
As part of the compromise, the CTS will open at 101 Wyandotte St. E. on its expected timeline of the end of March assuming federal funding comes through on time. Retrofitting and renovation upgrades are already underway — which the board of health said needs to be completed before federal funding is approved.
The health unit’s lease to occupy the building ends in April 2025. The board said if the lease can not be ended early, the landlord which owns the building would be notified of SafePoint’s move by Nov. 2024.
Until then, Agostino will lead a committee tasked with finding a new location for the CTS. Board members appointed him as head of the committee during Friday’s meeting.
“They were folks that came forward recently who never came forward before. There were some voices there that might not have had a voice in the original consultation,” WECHU CEO Dr. Ken Blanchette said following Friday’s board meeting, adding “federal application partners” have reached out to schedule the site visit.
“We’re fairly close to that, within weeks to a month away."
During Friday’s board meeting, Agostino was appointed as head of the committee to find a new site for the CTS after it opens on Wyandotte Street East near the Canadian entry point of the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel.
Blanchette pointed to statistics, which shows an “urgent need” for the CTS to open as soon as possible. According to WECHU’s current projections, up to 111 people in Windsor-Essex could die of opioid-related overdoses by the end of 2023, but that number would hover around 70 if the CTS opens within the next month.
WECHU’s CEO also shared details of the floor plan for the site, describing it as “unidirectional” with open sightlines throughout the entire space.
“It allows for what's really important for on-site primary care. So, there'll be providing care for things like foot care, wound care and vaccinations. It also allows for social service providers to be there for income and food supports…and an onsite physician during certain operational hours to provide treatment,” said Blanchette, adding clients will also have access to referrals for addiction treatment services.
The city has spent $775,000 on the construction of SafePoint inside 101 Wyandotte St. E. Health officials said federal funding is expected to come through in March, allowing SafePoint to operate until July.
“And then provincial funding would kick in. So all those contingencies have been in place and already approved,” said Blanchette.
Agostino told CTV News Windsor he would like to start working on finding a location for SafePoint’s new home “as soon as possible.” When asked who will be on the site selection committee and when it will be formed, Agostino said it’s “not certain but rest assured everyone will have a voice.”
“Everyone is scared and that's what we all have in common,” Agostino told his fellow board members during Friday’s meeting.
“The agreement, the negotiation and the compromise we've come together on does a lot to help mitigate those fears for everyone.”
As for WECHU Board Chair and Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante, he said the process of finding a new site will be “similar to the process that was undertaken” for 101 Wyandotte St. E.
“The intent is to be fully transparent…and would include a consultation process with the surrounding residents and business owners,” said Costante.
In January 2022, Windsor City Council narrowly approved 101 Wyandotte St. E. as the site of SafePoint in a 6-5 vote. At the time, Rino Bortolin and Chris Holt — who represented Ward 3 and 4, respectively — voted in support of the location.
They have since been replaced by Agostino in Ward 3 and Mark McKenzie in Ward 4. Prior to Monday’s announcement of a compromise being reached, Agostino said council should reconsider if 101 Wyandotte St. E. is the most appropriate location for SafePoint while McKenzie said he does not support a CTS whatsoever.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.