VANCOUVER - An on-demand addiction treatment clinic has opened in the Vancouver neighbourhood hardest-hit by the ongoing opioid overdose crisis.
The Downtown Eastside Connections clinic, unveiled today, is expected to receive 600 patients a year who want help to stop using illicit drugs.
B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake says the program is designed to treat addiction as a health condition, relying on evidence-based methods including opioid replacement therapy and counselling services.
Dr. Ron Joe with Vancouver Coastal Health says patients will be assessed and receive their first dose of opioid replacements like suboxone or methadone within two hours of checking in.
He says many treatment programs require clients to already abstain from drug use, but the new clinic won't have those barriers and clients can walk in whenever they decide they're ready for help.
The clinic will be open seven days a week and have on-site social workers, community workers and peer support to address non-medical issues linked with substance abuse.
