Interior Health to create 26 new support recovery beds

Interior Health is about to create 26 new support recovery beds, after it awarded five contracts with support societies across the province.

The beds are intended to provide clients with a safe, substance-free setting while they await residential treatment, return from residential treatment or transition to a more stable lifestyle.

“More beds mean more people can get their lives back,” said Health Minister Terry Lake. “Bed by bed, we are following through on our commitment to create new substance use treatment beds, so families can be made whole again, and communities can benefit from engaged, healthy members.”

The 26 recently announced beds are just the first half of ten eventual contracts to provide 57 more beds to communities throughout IH, the majority of which should be open by December of this year.

So far, contracts have been awarded in Merritt, Cranbrook, Kamloops and Armstrong.

According to IH, these 57 support recovery beds are part of IH’s April commitment to create 73 new substance use treatment beds, including 16 withdrawal management beds.

They’re also part of the Province’s commitment to add 500 additional substance use spaces throughout British Columbia.

IH says its focusing its resources on five strategies tol shift the system away from hospitals and towards care being provided in a community setting. One of these strategies is directed at improving primary and community care outcomes for MHSU clients.

On July 27, 2016, Premier Christy Clark announced a new Joint Task Force on Overdose Prevention and Response. The actions being taken under the task force support the ongoing work to support and treat British Columbians with substance use issues, a key priority of government.

In the past two years, the provincial government has opened more than 220 new beds as part of this commitment to ensure better access to appropriate substance use supports.