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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
The RAAM clinic at the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre in Winnipeg in 2023. The number of patients entering RAAM clinics in Manitoba more than tripled between 2020 and 2025 \u2014 from 8,496 to 28,476.<\/p>\n
In Winnipeg, visit counts declined to 13,707 from 14,147.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that the demand wasn\u2019t there,\u201d said Crystal Cyr, director of Manitoba\u2019s newest Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine Clinic, run by the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre on Higgins Avenue.<\/p>\n
She speculated the drop was due to Manitoba\u2019s worst wildfire season in 30 years. Staff in various RAAM clinics were pulled away from their work to help evacuees at shelters.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou likely would\u2019ve seen an increase in the amount of people who were turned away because our clinics were at capacity,\u201d Cyr said.<\/p>\n
Upon opening in 2023, Aboriginal Health and Wellness expected its RAAM clinic to take in four to six people per day. The number of visits has almost always exceeded that. Staff register six to 10 people each day it\u2019s open, generally on a first-come, first-served basis.<\/p>\n
They try not to turn anyone away, Cyr said. The clinic is open twice weekly and has a physician four hours per day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are not enough services by far,\u201d Cyr stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, we are doing the best we can. This is very challenging work, it\u2019s very important work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do our work with a mind towards the future, that hopefully resources will continue to grow as the need grows.\u201d<\/p>\n
End Homelessness Winnipeg counted 8,248 homeless people in March, a 104-person uptick from February.<\/p>\n
Cyr said she hopes for more resources from the Manitoba government before the wildfire season begins.<\/p>\n
The province slated $3.81 million for RAAM clinics in fiscal year 2026-27, the same as one year earlier.<\/p>\n
The clinics received $3.32 million during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years. In 2021-22, the pot was $1.38 million.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith wasn\u2019t available for an interview. In a statement, she noted the province has launched a virtual RAAM program. (In Winnipeg, the program had 389 visits last year.)<\/p>\n Some addictions-focused organizations want RAAM services expanded. A hub with 24-7 access would be ideal, said Marion Willis, founder of St. Boniface Street Links.<\/p>\n RAAM clinics typically operate on weekdays, only two in Winnipeg have Saturday appointments.<\/p>\n St. Boniface Street Links, a non-profit, works with people who have addictions and the homeless east of the Red River. There\u2019s a need for a RAAM clinic in that area, Willis said. The inner-city ha all three Winnipeg sites.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that the government doesn\u2019t understand or doesn\u2019t care,\u201d Willis said about the strain on resources. \u201cYou can\u2019t give what you don\u2019t got.\u201d<\/p>\n Federal action is needed, she said.<\/p>\n Meantime, she\u2019s been talking to Northway Pharmacy about starting an opioid agonist treatment clinic, similar to a RAAM clinic, to tackle demand. It would be run by a medical team, Willis said, adding her non-profit is too swamped to launch the project in the near-term.<\/p>\n Northway Pharmacy Brothers treats 50 to 70 people daily for medications related to substance-use disorders, manager Brett Roeland said.<\/p>\n He\u2019s operating partner of two Winnipeg addictions treatment centres, including Phoenix Recovery, which shares a building with the Selkirk Avenue pharmacy. RAAM clinics refer patients they\u2019ve stabilized to Phoenix Recovery and other community organizations for further treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of a bottleneck in the community about who\u2019s actually taking care of this type of individual, and who actually has the training and knowledge to do so,\u201d Roeland said.<\/p>\n Cyr echoed him, noting there\u2019s a limited number of physicians who practise addictions medicine: \u201cThere are so many gaps in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n Resource Assistance for Youth sometimes struggles to get its referrals into RAAM clinics because of criteria barriers, such as the need for people to show they\u2019ll consistently use prescription medication, said executive director Kate Sjoberg.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t At least 4,100 RAAM clinic visits last year were tied to counselling. It\u2019s an \u201cencouraging\u201d sign of repeat visitors, said Kayla Joyce, a University of Manitoba assistant professor of clinical health psychology.<\/p>\n RAAM clinic visits can reduce emergency department use, hospitalizations and death. It\u2019s unclear how RAAM services have impacted Manitoba health service use trajectories and populations, Joyce wrote in an email, adding it\u2019s something she hopes to study.<\/p>\n Anecdotally, Roeland said he\u2019s had patients enter RAAM clinics and end up in housing months later.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people who are coming into those RAAM clinics are wanting to get away from drugs,\u201d said Tory MLA Jeff Bereza. \u201cI believe the RAAM clinic is the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t They need a better pipeline for patients to access further recovery supports, such as detox beds, he added.<\/p>\n Southern Health, which includes Portage la Prairie, recorded 4,967 RAAM visits last year, up from 2,569 in 2021 (it opened in late October 2020).<\/p>\n Interlake-Eastern\u2019s RAAM clinic tracked 4,773 visits in 2025, from 1,252 in 2020. Prairie Mountain Health\u2019s RAAM clinic visits jumped to 2,963 from 773 during the same time period.<\/p>\n The Northern regional health authority counted 1,448 RAAM clinic visits last year, from 247 in 2021.<\/p>\n gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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