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Treatment centre doomed: Driedger

By: Bruce Owen

Posted: 03/11/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A plan by the province to turn a seniors' home in Point Douglas into an addictions treatment centre may be on the ropes because of escalating costs to renovate the building, Progressive Conservative Health critic Myrna Driedger said Wednesday.The plan called for the former Sharon Home at 146 Magnus Ave. to be turned into a 78-bed residential addictions treatment centre and outpatient facility, but a 2008 consultant's report obtained by Driedger said renovation costs would total $10 million and the annual operating cost would be about $8 million. Manitoba Health and Healthy Living would pay for the renovations.

"It sounds like the centre is doomed," sher said. "That's too bad. There's a desperate need for more treatment beds."

Driedger said the cost of renovating and operating the centre may be too rich for the province as it cuts back on spending to fight a $555-million budget deficit.

A provincial spokesman said the province is committed to the project, but is reviewing the precise nature of the programming that will be offered.

Ian Krochak, executive director of the proposed River Point Centre, was unavailable for comment.

Driedger said foot-dragging by the province highlights how ill-conceived Manitoba's additions treatment plan is.

"If you don't have a road map, you're going to have messes like this," she said.

Point Douglas Residents Association spokesman Sel Burrows said he believes the centre is still on the books.

The centre is intended to be a first for the province as several agencies will operate under one roof to combine their services. Agencies include the Main Street Project, the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) and the Behavioural Health Foundation. The goal is to reduce waiting lists for addictions treatment, especially for women.

The Meyers Norris Penny consultant's report recommends a staged approach to funding, not all at once, to get provincial approval.

In January the centre got the green light from city hall after dozens of North Point Douglas residents had complained the treatment centre was ill-suited to the neighbourhood because drug deals take place in the park outside the centre.

Driedger said the centre is needed to deal with the increased use of OxyContin, a highly addictive painkiller.

Officials have said there has been a surge in abuse of the prescription painkiller resulting in an increased demand for treatment.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 11, 2010 B3

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