The future of a province-run addictions and mental health treatment centre in northeast Edmonton remains uncertain after flooding forced clients out of the facility in late June and the voluntary treatment program was suspended.
Recovery Alberta, the government agency that deals with addiction, says the Henwood Treatment Centre is “temporarily closed,” while Alberta’s Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction says it’s “closed for the foreseeable future.” However, staff who work at the centre tell CBC News they’ve been told the closure is permanent, and unions representing staff say some members have received layoff notices.
The Henwood Treatment Centre is a 62-bed facility that offers a wraparound treatment program.
CBC News requested further information from the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction and Recovery Alberta about when or if the facility and its programming will resume.
However, neither would confirm when or if the facility will reopen.
Both the ministry and the health agency said they are still looking into the extent of flood damage in order to determine the centre’s future.
“The safety and well-being of patients, staff and the community will continue to guide decisions,” a spokesperson for Recovery Alberta said in a statement to CBC News on Tuesday.
Two staff members at the Henwood Treatment Centre told CBC News that during an all-staff meeting held on Aug. 20, someone from Recovery Alberta told them the centre’s treatment program will be coming to a permanent end.
“We were all totally shocked and caught off guard by that [meeting] because up until that point, we were under the assumption that repairs were being done,” Gerri Logan, an assistant head nurse at the centre, told CBC News.
She said the significant rainfall that Edmonton experienced on June 28 resulted in flood damage at the centre which impacted its basement levels. She said that resulted in 48 clients being moved out that evening. They were transferred to alternative treatment centres.
LISTEN | Henwood Treatment Centre is temporarily closed:
Radio Active7:44An addiction and recovery centre in Edmonton has been closed this summer
An addiction treatment and recovery facility in Edmonton closed in June due to significant damage from flooding. While the provincial government stated that the closure of the Henwood Treatment Centre is temporary, no reopening date has been given. Gerri Logan was the assistant head nurse at the facility
Logan said some Henwood Treatment Centre staff were temporarily redeployed to Alberta Hospital Edmonton.
She said staff had many questions for leadership during the 45-minute meeting but were informed that human resources would be in touch with staff as to future options.
CBC News has asked Recovery Alberta for comment on staff members saying they were told by the agency at a meeting that the centre would be permanently closing.
Impact of closure
Recovery Alberta told CBC News at the time the centre’s programming was suspended, there were 104 clients on the list to be assessed for admission into treatment.
“Recovery Alberta treated all 104 individuals as active clients requiring support,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement to CBC News.
“Our team proactively contacted each client by phone to discuss alternative treatment options and available supports.”
Logan said staff reached out to far more people.
“The fact is that there were over 500 people that our counsellors had to call and inform them of our closure,” she told CBC News, noting there were ongoing discussions with Recovery Alberta as to how many applications for treatment were viable.
“That’s how many people we had to call and actually spoke to, other than the ones that unfortunately had deceased because they were still waiting.”
Dr. Monty Ghosh, an addictions specialist who is also an associate professor of medicine at the University of Alberta, told CBC News that Henwood “is one of the key pieces of addiction treatment infrastructure that we have within Recovery Alberta.”
He added that Henwood is one of the only treatment facilities in Edmonton that is fully funded and operated by Recovery Alberta.
“They do provide access to all forms of treatment over there, especially opiate agonist treatment, which is not always available in other sites,” Ghosh said.
He said he’s heard from his patients that the wait time for addiction treatment can range from three to six months in Alberta.
“Henwood became quite a unique service because we were that stabilization bridge from detox and hospitals to community and further treatment centres, so we helped support really complex people coming in to us,” Logan said.
“We would accept a lot of people that had some pretty significant complex health needs, high-risk pregnancy, Stage 4 cirrhosis, court conditions that they had to attend.
“I don’t know how the mental health and addiction community will be able to absorb 62 beds that are now closed, and where are those people going to go now?”
Edmonton resident Alex Haselgruber told CBC News their doctor was about to refer them to Henwood but now can no longer do so.
“There’s going to be so many people falling through the cracks because of it,” they said. “I’m one of them. It’s kind of sad and breaks my heart a bit.
“I’m gonna have to go down a different route to fight my weed addiction.
“We need more urgent action to fill the gap. …We need more beds and it’s about time that the government starts to prioritize people, not politics.”
The direction the Alberta government is taking when it comes to providing services for those who struggle with mental health and addictions has become contentious.
Some critics say Alberta’s recovery model has focused too much on abstinence-based treatment.
The Compassionate Intervention Act, which passed in the legislature this spring but has yet to be implemented, legalizes involuntary treatment options for both children and adults.
The legislation lays out the criteria, guidelines and process for a relative or guardian, health-care professional or police officer to apply for mandated addiction treatment orders for patients who pose a danger to themselves or others.
“There’s still people that want to go voluntarily to treatment,” Logan said, expressing concern that closing the Henwood Treatment Centre will lead to the cannibalization of existing resources for a recovery model being spearheaded by the province.
“They want to be able to come to their own decisions, their free will.”
Recovery Alberta told CBC News the prolonged closure of Henwood and suspension of programing has impacted 68 regular employees and about 41 casual staff currently assigned to the program.
The United Nurses of Alberta, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) have all expressed concern over the situation with Henwood.
In a statement to CBC News on Wednesday, HSAA president Leanne Alfaro said the union represents approximately 20 staff who are impacted by the temporary closure.
“The loss of more than 60 treatment beds in the city without any immediate replacement will only increase demand for these services,” she said.
“Our members are worried about their patients and feel uncertain about the future of the critical care they provide if this program is not restored.”
The AUPE put out a news release on Wednesday that said of the 30 permanent staff at the centre who are members, 14 have received layoff notices while 16 are being redeployed to other worksites.
Another 22 casual employees at the centre who are members are waiting to find out if other work will be found for them, the AUPE said.
“AUPE is calling on the province to come clean about its plan for Henwood patients and the staff affected by the closure,” the union said.
“Albertans deserve to know that treatment is available when they make the difficult decision to seek help.”
The Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction noted to CBC News that last month the Alberta government announced a $30-million investment to add more than 400 new treatment, housing and stabilization beds in the Edmonton area.
Twenty-five new, long-term addiction treatment beds recently opened at the Lakeview Recovery Community near Edmonton, and the ministry said 75 more beds are expected to come online later this year in Edmonton itself.