Editor:
In 2016, British Columbians faced the public-health emergency that is the overdose crisis.
As of Nov. 30, 755 people in our province died this year due to an overdose – 259 of those deaths occurring in the Fraser Health region. That’s 259 sons, daughters, partners and friends who have lost their lives to an issue that has impacted our society at all levels.
In our region of 1.8 million people, the overdose crisis has touched all of our communities.
How does a health authority manage something like this? We develop an aggressive strategy, tackling the problem with multiple approaches, including prevention, harm-reduction and treatment.
Across our region, 56 sites – including all emergency departments and public health units – are equipped to distribute ‘Take Home Naloxone.’ We also implemented a safe-prescription policy for opioid-based medications in all ERs.
We have held 17 community forums and naloxone-training events to prevent overdoses from occurring and to prepare people in case they do. We’ve launched a multi-phased public-education campaign targeting all people who use substances, and we’ve produced these materials in ways that can be easily shared by schools, media outlets and the public.
In October, we partnered with RainCity Housing to develop a regional harm-reduction strategy that will connect the most vulnerable patients to health and social services and find ways to reduce inappropriately discarded needles in our communities.
We’re proposing two sites for supervised-consumption services in Surrey, where we’ve seen the highest number of overdose deaths. We’re doubling capacity for opioid-substitution treatment in Surrey, and we’re enhancing these services in Abbotsford and Maple Ridge.
Over the past 18 months, we’ve opened dozens of treatment beds, and we’re on track to open another 100 beds in 2017. We are also working to ensure access to opioid-substitution treatment is part of the continuum of care in these services.
While our efforts have produced results, there is more to be done. We are committed to being at the forefront of creating positive change.
Michael Marchbank, Fraser Health CEO & president
