Somerset West Community Health Centre officially closes doors to supervised consumption site

The Somerset Community Health Centre supervised consumption program has shut down. CTV’s Natalie van Rooy reports.

As the opioid crisis deepens across the country, some have turned to supervised consumption sites as tool to save lives, but one of those sites here in Ottawa has been forced to close its doors.

The Somerset West Community Health Centre is officially stopping its services for supervised consumption on March 1 because of its proximity to schools and childcare centres. This is in line with a recent rule change by the Ford government.

It was one of 10 sites across the province forced to close because it is within 200 metres of a school or childcare centre.

The site has been operating since 2018. No one from Somerset West Community Health was available to comment on-camera but a statement posted online reads as follows: “To everyone who has walked through our doors, worked alongside us, or supported this program in any way, thank you. This program has been a vital space for client engagement, safety, and community building. While our CTS is coming to a close, we remain steadfast to ensuring a high quality of client service grounded in equity.”

The move to shut down sites near schools and childcare centres as announced by the Ford government last summer. Five of the programs are in Toronto. The others are located in Ottawa, Waterloo, Guelph, Hamilton, and Thunder Bay. They must all close no later than March 31.

“I would say that people who don’t live in the area don’t really understand the issues that not just childcare providers, but schools, community centers, libraries are grappling with these issues every single day,” said Stephanie Plante, Ottawa councillor. “I don’t think the solution is to simply, you know, we’re going to close them all and then it’s going to disappear. We obviously need to spread them out better throughout the city. I don’t agree with the province that, you know, everything is just going to magically solve itself overnight.”

In January, the province approved transitioning the site at the Somerset West Community Health Centre into a new homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hub called the Ottawa Hart Hub. Hart Hubs do not offer safer supply services, needle exchange programs or supervised drug consumption. It does include substance use treatment and mental health supports. There are three other supervised consumption sites still in service in Ottawa.