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Vernon To Get OD Prevention Site By Summ

Vernon On Track For OD Prevention Site By Summer

Mar 25, 2019 | 4:51 PM

Interior Heath is moving forward with plans for overdose prevention services in Vernon including a fixed prevention site

A request for proposals will go out this week, and the service is expected to begin this summer, funded by the province, but operated by a community partner.

“Interior Health will be undertaking a competitive procurement process seeking proposals from qualified proponents who are able to deliver overdose prevention services in Vernon, including a fixed overdose prevention site,” says a news release. “A Request for Proposals will be posted to the BC Bid website this week.”

The service is expected to begin in summer 2019, but the actual implementation date and location for the services will be determined through the procurement process.

Twenty-four people died of illicit drug overdoses last year in Vernon, one more than the 23 in 2017.

Overdose prevention sites provide designated spaces to monitor people who use drugs and ensure that Naloxone and other lifesaving first aid is available in the event of an overdose.

“Establishing an overdose prevention site in Vernon is an important addition to the continuum of health-care services for people with opioid use disorders,” says the release. “Other components include Opioid Agonist Treatments (such as methadone and Suboxone), intensive day and residential treatment programs, distribution of harm reduction supplies including Naloxone, and supportive recovery services.”

I-H says evidence shows the services save lives – no one has died in an overdose prevention site/supervised consumption service in BC, and reduce sharing of needles that cause HIV and hepatitis C, among other benefits.

There are currently more than 30 overdose prevention and supervised consumption sites operating in BC including in Kamloops and Kelowna, and an independently-operated site in Nelson.