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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recovery Alberta, the government agency that deals with addiction, says the Henwood Treatment Centre is \u201ctemporarily closed,\u201d while Alberta\u2019s Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction says it\u2019s \u201cclosed for the foreseeable future.\u201d However, staff who work at the centre tell CBC News they\u2019ve been told the closure is permanent, and unions representing staff say some members have received layoff notices.<\/p>\n
The Henwood Treatment Centre is a 62-bed facility that offers a wraparound treatment program.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
However, neither would confirm when or if the facility will reopen. \t<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safety and well-being of patients, staff and the community will continue to guide decisions,\u201d a spokesperson for Recovery Alberta said in a statement to CBC News on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s treatment program will be coming to a permanent end.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d Gerri Logan, an assistant head nurse at the centre, told CBC News.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
LISTEN | Henwood Treatment Centre is temporarily closed:<\/p>\n
Radio Active7:44An addiction and recovery centre in Edmonton has been closed this summer<\/p>\n
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\u00a0<\/p>\n
Logan said some Henwood Treatment Centre staff were temporarily redeployed to Alberta Hospital Edmonton.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Impact of closure\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recovery Alberta told CBC News at the time the centre\u2019s programming was suspended, there were 104 clients on the list to be assessed for admission into treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecovery Alberta treated all 104 individuals as active clients requiring support,\u201d a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement to CBC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team proactively contacted each client by phone to discuss alternative treatment options and available supports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Logan said staff reached out to far more people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is that there were over 500 people that our counsellors had to call and inform them of our closure,\u201d she told CBC News, noting there were ongoing discussions with Recovery Alberta as to how many applications for treatment were viable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Monty Ghosh, an addictions specialist who is also an associate professor of medicine at the University of Alberta, told CBC News that Henwood \u201cis one of the key pieces of addiction treatment infrastructure that we have within Recovery Alberta.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that Henwood is one of the only treatment facilities in Edmonton that is fully funded and operated by Recovery Alberta.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do provide access to all forms of treatment over there, especially opiate agonist treatment, which is not always available in other sites,\u201d Ghosh said.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s heard from his patients that the wait time for addiction treatment can range from three to six months in Alberta.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHenwood 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,\u201d Logan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmonton resident Alex Haselgruber told CBC News their doctor was about to refer them to Henwood but now can no longer do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s going to be so many people falling through the cracks because of it,\u201d they said. \u201cI’m one of them. It’s kind of sad and breaks my heart a bit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m gonna have to go down a different route to fight my weed addiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need more urgent action to fill the gap. \u2026We need more beds and it’s about time that the government starts to prioritize people, not politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n