By Jamie Rieger

detox centre
Residents in southeast Alberta who are seeking detox and treatment for addictions may soon have a facility in Medicine Hat where they will be able to get the help they need.
Last Monday, Alberta Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky, Medicine Hat MLA Rob Renner, and Infrastructure Minister Ray Danyluk toured a building on Cuyler Road to determine if it would be an adequate facility for a detox centre.
Lois Bourassa, executive director for Alberta Southeast region of the Canadian Mental Health Association said the tour was a positive step in the right direction in bringing a detox and treatment centre to the southeast corner of the province.
"We are off to a good start. VON has a home program for non-medical people; for instance for somebody who has alcohol issues, but does not have other medical issues and it is a good program," said Bourassa.
Medicine Hat is the only city in Alberta to not have a residential detox and treatment facility.
Those who have medical care during detox at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital stay in acute care beds or in the psychiatric ward, at a cost of $1,100 per day. According to Bourassa, the same service at a detox facility would be approximately $250 per day.
'I am using those numbers loosely to give an idea of the difference," she said.
Southeast Alberta Children and Family Services Authority is using the building as office space, but it once housed a residential placement centre for teens and has a number of bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen. The facility could house up to 16 people.
Discussions have been taken place between local politicians and organizations such as the Canadian Mental Health Association and McMan Youth, Family and Community Service Association Southeast Region.
"The city funded a study to see what was needed. Once the study was complete, a steering committee was formed with people with addictions, their family members and professionals and from there, some dialogue was started with elected officials," said Bourassa.
'Another report was then completed and in it is very clear, factual and important information," she said, adding that locations, including the one on Cuyler Road were examined at that time.
"It was a starting point and it got people talking about the need for a detox facility for southeast Alberta," she said.
For those who do have medical issues, they are placed either in intensive care or the psychiatric ward.
'Even if they do it in the hospital, they have the detox, but not the treatment. There are benefits for people to have the detox and treatment in their own community and we are talking about 28 days of sobriety and support in a facility, so when they do go back to their homes they are leaving their old habits behind,' said Bourassa.
Right now, they can go to detox facilities in other cities in the province, but that is not always an ideal situation for somebody who is trying to battle addictions and needs the support of loved ones.
Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Len Mitzel said having a detox centre for the southeast corner of the province has been a topic of discussion for years.
"I have been working on this for years and there were talks with former mayor Vallely, but at that time, there was not any room for change,' said Mitzel who has met with Children's Services and McMan.
"This is a health need. This area does not have a detox and treatment centre. Even when we were talking about it in the past, this was the location that first came up, but we were not able to make it work. "It took a long time to get everybody on board, on the same page and the time had to be right," he added.