{"id":724673,"date":"2026-06-09T07:06:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T07:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724673\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T07:06:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T07:06:29","slug":"new-rapid-access-to-addictions-medicine-clinic-opens-in-the-pas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724673\/","title":{"rendered":"New rapid access to addictions medicine clinic opens in The Pas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 5 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The Pas is the home of a new rapid access to addictions medicine (RAAM) clinic, only the second of its kind to open in northern Manitoba.<\/p>\n

The Northern Health Region, Shared Health and Opaskwayak Health Authority have combined to start the new clinic, which will use Shared Health\u2019s My Health Teams model.<\/p>\n

The clinic, based in The Pas’s Rosaire House Addictions Centre close to St. Anthony’s General Hospital, will offer help to people dealing with high-risk substance use and addiction, including drug and alcohol dependency, without the need for a referral.<\/p>\n

Services can vary from dealing with illness and infection all the way to drug and alcohol cessation treatment, housing help and education.<\/p>\n

The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy said there’s a huge need for the service model.<\/p>\n

“We know that not only our municipality, but many communities in northern Manitoba and across Manitoba \u2014 and I would say probably across Canada \u2014 are lacking the mental health and addiction support services that are needed,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We need those wraparound services that are going to support people that are coming out of their treatment.”<\/p>\n

WATCH | New addictions clinic opens in The Pas:\"\"<\/p>\n

The Pas welcomes new tool in fight against addictions<\/p>\n

Leaders in The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation are looking forward to the opening of the region’s first Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine clinic. Also known as RAAM, the clinic specializes in providing health care for people with active substance use issues.<\/p>\n

Manitoba already has seven other RAAM clinics. Three are in Winnipeg, while there is one each in Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Selkirk.<\/p>\n

There is only one other RAAM clinic in the north, in Thompson, over 300 kilometres northeast of The Pas, which is near the Saskatchewan border about 520 km northwest of Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

The Northern Health Region has the highest per capita rate of emergency room visits, hospitalizations and deaths relating to substance abuse of any Manitoba health authority, 2019 data from Manitoba Health says.<\/p>\n

Opaskwayak Health Authority director of health services Caitlin McNeill said the RAAM clinic will give people another place to get help.<\/p>\n

The Opaskwayak authority operates its own drug and alcohol treatment programs, including the first opioid agonist treatment program on a Manitoba First Nation. Opioid agonist therapy provides prescribed medications, such as methadone, to help treat addictions.<\/p>\n

\"ACaitlin McNeill, director of health services for the Opaskwayak Health Authority, said the new clinic will work well with existing programs, like the authority’s opioid agonist therapy program. (Eric Westhaver\/CBC)<\/p>\n

“Ultimately, the goal is to help connect people to primary care. Yes, [the RAAM clinic provides] addictions treatment, but it’s also connection to having a regular provider for the people that access the service,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a walk-in service. People can just go there and the RAAM clinic covers multiple substances. If people need help with alcohol abuse or anything like that, they can go there and get help accessing treatment.”<\/p>\n

Addiction is complicated and a lifelong struggle for some, McNeill said, and the best way to help people is to consider their individual needs.<\/p>\n

“It might be that people need multiple attempts before they’re able to really make that change, and there’s tons of factors that coincide with that \u2014 literacy, job readiness, housing. There’s a lot of things that we in the health sector don’t have a ton of control over that also contribute to the issue,” she said.<\/p>\n

“If somebody doesn’t have a home to go back to, what are their options when they’re on the street with a lot of other people that are continuing to use substances?”<\/p>\n

OCN community safety and well-being co-ordinator Alexis Watts said the new clinic also means people can seek treatment closer to home, instead of heading hundreds of kilometres away.<\/p>\n

“This has been many, many years in the works, just being able to have these services accessible to our northern communities instead of having to refer down south,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Pas Mayor Andre Murphy says the new clinic will have a positive impact on the community. (Eric Westhaver\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Mayor Murphy hopes to see more improvements to health care in The Pas.<\/p>\n

A new primary health-care clinic will be built in the community, but it won\u2019t be open for at least four more years, he said.<\/p>\n

“A 2030 opening date is way too long, and we will need to see the services a lot earlier.”<\/p>\n

He’s been told that people going to the emergency room for primary care has caused delays and difficulty for health-care staff.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Rosaire House Addiction Centre in The Pas is home to The Pas’s new rapid access to addictions medicine (RAAM) clinic. (Eric Westhaver\/CBC)<\/p>\n

“People are getting that primary care in clinics and\/or in emergency, which then causes all sorts of other frustrations for people.”<\/p>\n

The Pas’s health-care facilities also serve people from Opaskwayak Cree Nation and the rural municipality of Kelsey.<\/p>\n

“We need more mental health workers. We need infrastructure to be able to place people into providing proper treatment, in all three communities,” Murphy said.<\/p>\n

“I think the infrastructure support is lacking.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-724673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}