Fighting the Opioid Crisis in Peterborough

“Our community, like many across Canada, struggles with a mental health and addictions crisis. It tears families apart, affects businesses in our downtown, and takes the lives of too many of our neighbours. In order for us to address these challenges, we need a full continuum of care – pathways to health and wellness; mental health counselling, detox services, residential treatment, harm reduction, and connects to social support such as housing. Together, these pathways to health offer the opportunity for those struggling with mental health and addiction to begin the journey towards wellness.

We have made significant progress in this goal, but more work needs to be done. Below is what we’ve been able to accomplish so far.”

Dave Smith, Member of Provincial Parliament for Peterborough-Kawartha

• Increase funding for the Canadian Mental Health Association – Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge by 10 percent;
• MOBIS – Built-for-purpose buses, staffed by social workers, therapists, registered nurses, and addictions counsellors, travels to rural communities to deliver mental health and addictions services to individuals at-risk;
• $500,000 for Four Counties Addictions Services Team (Fourcast) for Withdrawal Management (detox) services, including health care providers such as nurse practitioners and outreach workers;
• Peterborough Health Team, as part of Ontario’s health care reform, is creating a single unit comprising all of our local health care providers to offer seamless and patient-centred care by breaking down silos between services; 
• $1,350,000 in annual funding for the Opioid Response Hub, located in downtown Peterborough. The Opioid Response Hub will offer harm reduction services, mental health and addictions counselling, and pathways to treatment for the most vulnerable; 
• $375,000 to fund Right to Heal, a local non-profit, to deliver addictions intervention and therapy to the highest-risk individuals to move them to sobriety.
• $200,000 to Talk Now, a virtual mental health and addictions clinic which offers free counselling by mental health and addictions professionals
• Investing $1, 338, 800 for 6 residential treatment and 6 residential withdrawal management beds through collaboration with local governments, community partners and the Province of Ontario