First healing centre to treat addiction and mental illness opens in B.C.

B.C.’s new addictions and mental health treatment facility in Coquitlam could influence how the province provides care.

The 105-bed Red Fish Healing Centre is the first of its kind and will allow patients to be treated for mental health and addictions together. Having both issues treated at the same time wasn’t previously possible at other B.C. treatment sites.

This facility, which is replacing the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, is where Riverview Hospital used to be before it closed in 2012.

Leslie McBain from Moms Stop the Harm, a network of Canadian families impacted by substance-use-related harms and deaths, is cautiously optimistic about the facility.

“I mean, it looks fantastic. The only thing is we need about at least 10 times as many beds and places like Red Fish across the province, and lots across the country,” she said.

“There are estimates of 50,000 to 100,000 people using illicit substances in B.C. Maybe not all of those people are addicted, but a great portion of them are. Often mental health issues can’t be separated from addiction, so we suspect there are really thousands of people struggling with mental health and addictions.”

In B.C., the average number of people dying from an overdose is six per day.

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A B.C. mother who lost her son to a drug overdose in 2014 says this new centre in Coquitlam provides hope.

“It’s always hard to know for a person … which one caused the other, or if [their passing or addiction] just happened that way. But the fact is that so many who are addicted need this kind of care,” she said.

It includes an advanced care unit for people who have challenges with aggressive behaviour, something that would have disqualified them from accessing other treatment spaces. The space also provides practices rooted in Indigenous healing.

The province says if it’s successful, it could be expanded to other parts of B.C.

Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. Minister of Mental Health & Addictions, says people and their families deserve options for treatment and recovery that are “just as unique as the individual.”

“Just as there are many paths into addiction, there are many paths out. And the most vulnerable people in our communities; those who struggle with complex mental health and substance use challenges need access to dignified care that meets their needs,” she said.

MORE: I spoke w/@leslie_mcbain of @momsstoptheharm who says news of the Red Fish Healing Centre in #CoquitlamBC is good. She did note there should be “ten times more beds” than the 105 currently offered. Listen & watch on @CityNewsVAN. #bchealth #mentalhealth pic.twitter.com/MQayb8z1rl

— Ria Ren-‘BOO!’-f??????? (@riarenouf) October 30, 2021

 

McBain says while each person is different, offering compassionate treatment will go a long way.

“I like to think that [my son] Jordan could have worked on his addiction with the support of family and friends and a really good doctor … but I know so many friends and family of loved ones who are struggling with their mental health and with their addictions,” she said.