New Dawn Medical has been facing months of similar public backlash over a sustained increase in crime and safety concerns in the area. Despite being under the public microscope since June last year, the Ontario-funded addiction treatment clinic continues operations.<\/p>\n
In the year after the opening of the clinic, businesses put up fences, residents became more vigilant and crime in the area increased.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to see the change. But you also see it with the people that live in this building,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cIt takes a toll \u2026 the fact that now we have to be on our toes.\u201d<\/p>\n
What once attracted the couple as being a central and lively hub for restaurants and cafes was now a source of anxiety. In the past year, Salazar has been \u201con edge\u201d going about his daily activities like walking his daughter to daycare.<\/p>\n
\u2018Traded, sold or stolen\u2019<\/p>\n
The clinic\u2019s prescriptions are legal and, theoretically, are meant to be a safer alternative to fentanyl and other fatal street drugs, according to Hintonburg Community Association director Cheryl Parrott.<\/p>\n
But Parrott said some clients of the clinic had been seen using those prescriptions as a form of \u201ccurrency.\u201d Parrott added that prescribed hydromorphone tablets were being \u201ctraded, sold or stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t really want those prescriptions,\u201d Parrott said. \u201cThey may take some, but they use it as currency to be able to trade or sell fentanyl.\u201d<\/p>\n
An observational study between March and April 2024 by the Vancouver\u2019s Infectious Disease Centre found that 12 of 50 participants of that study, (24 per cent) diverted some or all of their prescribed supply of hydromorphone by selling or trading it.<\/p>\n
Parrott said the direct impact to the Hintonburg community decreased with the relocation of the Northwood Recovery clinic in 2024. Though Hintonburg is no longer on \u201cground zero\u201d with some of the effects of the clinic, Parrott said the clinic\u2019s move to Chinatown had created similar issues in the Somerset Street West neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what it\u2019s like and I have been (to Chinatown) occasionally and I have seen the activity which is exactly what was happening here with the Northwood clinic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
An \u2018extra cost\u2019 for businesses<\/p>\n
Yukang Li, executive director of the Somerset Street Chinatown Business Improvement Area (BIA), said businesses in the Chinatown were not only losing money as a result of increased theft in the area, but were also facing increased operational costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey also have to enhance their security infrastructure such as installing fences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Li said a number of businesses had to install fences, including the Pho Bo Ga Express restaurant, which is right across the street from the clinic.<\/p>\n
Li added that a Bubble Tea, Deserts & Board Games business, located across the street from New Dawn Medical, also closed in July 2025 because \u201cthey just couldn\u2019t handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ottawa Citizen has confirmed that the unit remains vacant.<\/p>\n
Advocacy efforts<\/p>\n
Ottawa Centre MPP Catherine McKenney and Somerset ward Coun. Ariel Troster wrote a joint letter<\/a> to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario calling on the provincial government to investigate New Dawn Medical. But not much has changed since, and the clinic continues daily operations.<\/p>\n Li said an informal group of people were coming together to advocate for the closure of the clinic, so far without luck.<\/p>\n \u201cIt consists of people who are really concerned about the negative impacts that the clinic has brought home to the community,\u201d Li said.<\/p>\n The residents of the building where the clinic is located have also created a WhatsApp group chat, Salazar said.<\/p>\n Li said he had been in communication with the head of the Ontario Regional Office in Ottawa regarding efforts to close the clinic\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n The Ottawa Citizen reached out to Scott Phelan, who oversees those operations at the regional office, but did not receive a response in time for publication.<\/p>\n Li said he had been told that the province wanted to close the site for good, but that timeline remained unknown to him.<\/p>\n Li was part of the first group of advocates who played a role in the closure<\/a> of Northwood Recovery clinic in June 2025.<\/p>\n Yukang Li, executive director of Ottawa\u2019s Chinatown BIA, was part of the first group of advocates who played a role in the closure of the Northwood Recovery clinic in June 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole community was happy about it,\u201d he recalled. \u201cBut to our surprise, the business was transferred to a new name, and a new owner called New Dawn Medical.\u201d<\/p>\n This was a surprise<\/a> to the community, who have since expressed their frustration<\/a>, Li said.<\/p>\n Salazar said he did not see benefits to keeping the clinic and pharmacy open, but for him the solution is not in closing all safe-supply sites or pill dispensaries and expecting the addiction crisis to resolve on its own.<\/p>\n For him the solution lies in finding a comprehensive approach \u201cthat can be implemented together (and) can actually get people the help they need without affecting others.\u201d<\/p>\n Chinatown: A \u2018hazard zone\u2019 for kids?<\/p>\n The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority announced<\/a> in February 2026 that it would extend bus service for students near five downtown Ottawa elementary schools, including some in Chinatown like the Devonshire Community Public School. The transportation authority oversees bus services for English-language school boards in Ottawa.<\/p>\n \u201cI can see why they consider the area to be dangerous,\u201d Salazar said.<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/470fc2f691e703ff6c1ba85707f23334.jpeg\"\/)
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