Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson discusses details about the province’s application for decriminalization in the next step to reduce toxic drug deaths during a press conference in the press gallery at the Legislature in Victoria, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson discusses details about the province’s application for decriminalization in the next step to reduce toxic drug deaths during a press conference in the press gallery at the Legislature in Victoria, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

B.C. announces 47 new addiction recovery beds, converts 58 private spots to public

These beds are in addition to the 105 beds recently opened at the Red Fish Healing Centre and 10 in Surrey

The province says 105 new publicly funded recovery beds are now fully operational for those struggling with substance use and addiction.

The beds, which are a mix of converted private beds and new spaces, come as B.C. grapples with the ongoing overdose crisis and increasingly toxic illicit drug supply that’s killed nearly 7,000 people since 2017.

Announced last year, the beds are in addition to the 105 beds recently opened at the Red Fish Healing Centre and the 10 new specialized addiction treatment beds at Phoenix Society in Surrey.

The latest set of beds have been opened across 14 organizations, the province said in a news release Tuesday (Dec. 7), of which 47 are new spaces. The remaining 58 were converted from private-pay beds to now being public spaces.

ALSO READ: B.C. applies to decriminalize personal possession of illicit drugs amid opioid crisis

ALSO READ: ‘B.C. cannot wait for action’: Top doctor urges province to decriminalize illicit drugs

Broken down by health authority, 29 beds have opened in Interior Health, 29 on Vancouver Island, seven in Fraser Health, 34 in Vancouver Coastal and six in Northern Health.

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