Calgary, Lethbridge supervised consumption sites close
Province shifts funding from overdose prevention to treatment and withdrawal management beds.
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The supervised consumption sites in Calgary and Lethbridge officially closed Tuesday as Alberta shifts funding to addiction treatment and withdrawal services.
Safeworks Outreach at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in Calgary was Alberta's first supervised consumption site, opening in 2017 to respond to the opioid and overdose crisis. It provided sterile equipment and supervision in case of overdose. Seven more sites opened across the province in subsequent years, but only three remain operational: two in Edmonton and one in Grande Prairie.
Recovery Alberta did not immediately confirm whether those remaining sites will close.
In Calgary, a recovery response team and an addiction clinic will replace the Safeworks site starting Wednesday. The clinic will provide multidisciplinary health professionals — registered nurses, social workers, peer supports, addiction counsellors, and mental health supports — and offer access to addiction recovery medication, nursing assessments, and help transitioning to withdrawal and addiction treatment.
When the province announced the closure in March, Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said the funding would go to different support services, including 30 to 40 new withdrawal management beds. In Lethbridge, the mobile overdose prevention site funding will shift to 10 additional withdrawal beds and an addiction medicine clinic.
Harm reduction advocates and experts warn that closing the sites will lead to more widespread drug use and more fatal overdoses.
