Eastern Health has awarded the contract for the planning and development of the adult residential addictions treatment centre in Harbour Grace.
Homewood Health Centre Inc. of Guelph, Ontario, will develop the functional program and do the initial clinical management of the facility at a cost of nearly $1.7 million.
“The development of this treatment facility will enable Eastern Health to provide more specialized care to those who have complex addictions,” said Vickie Kaminski, president and CEO of Eastern Health.
“This new facility will help reduce wait times for treatment and will mean that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will have access to longer-term treatment for addictions in their own province.”
The new facility will be integrated into the existing continuum of addictions treatment services in the province and complement the Humberwood Treatment Centre in Corner Brook, which provides short-term treatment.
Homewood Health Centre is a fully-accredited national leader and centre of excellence for addictions and mental health treatment. At present, the Homewood Health Centre is the centre of choice of the Department of Health and Community Services when referring adults with mental health and/or addiction problems out-of-province for treatment.
Homewood Health Centre will bring the expertise of a full team of health care providers who specialize in addictions treatment to the facility, Kaminski explained.
As part of the contract, Homewood Health Centre will work with Eastern Health over the next two-and-a-half years to develop a functional program and space plan for the facility, a training program for staff, and an evaluation framework for the centre. Additionally, they will provide the clinical management for the first 18 months of operation.
The facility will be located in the former St. Paul’s school in Harbour Grace, which is currently home to the SPLASH Centre. The SPLASH Centre is operated by the Community Youth Network (CYN), which is a provincial initiative whose mandate is to provide a variety of services for youth living in or at risk of poverty.
Addictions services in this province are currently delivered by each of the four regional health authorities (RHAs) and include: education and prevention, early intervention for youth and outpatient counseling, which are provided at 27 locations throughout the province. There is also an adolescent program at the Rowan Centre, St. John’s, a methadone maintenance treatment program and a withdrawal management program at the Recovery Centre, St. John’s, and a residential addictions treatment program at the Humberwood Centre in Corner Brook.
“I look forward to working with Homewood Health Centre to develop a first-class treatment facility in our province,” said Kaminski. “I also want to acknowledge the support this facility has received from the community in Harbour Grace and surrounding area. Having the residents of the area supportive of this facility will go a long way to help the individuals who use this facility through their recovery.”
