Owen Sound, Grey-Bruce hospitals see fewer drug-related visits since wellness centre opened

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A year after the Wellness & Recovery Centre in Owen Sound opened, the beds were full and fewer people who had overdosed or had other substance problems had visited Grey-Bruce hospital emergency rooms.

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There was an average reduction of 30 per cent in total return visits for substance problems to all 11 hospital emergency departments in the 12 months that  ended March 31, Brightshores Health System figures show.

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The Owen Sound hospital site actually saw a 30 per cent reduction in total substance-related visits to the emergency department in the past fiscal year, not just a reduction in revisits.

After a high of 554 substance-related visits in 2021-22, there were 495 related visits in the 12 months ending March 31, 2024, and 337 related visits to March 31 this year, a 31 per cent year-over-year reduction.

Reducing hospital emergency visits was one of the goals of the new mental health and addictions Wellness & Recovery Centre in Owen Sound, at the former Bayview Public School, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford cut the ribbon to officially open it one year ago.

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That drop might indicate people are going to the detox centre at the centre instead of the emergency department, said Naomi Vodden, the director of mental health and addictions at Brightshores Health System, in an interview Thursday.

“The question is, are they just coming to the wellness centre instead of the ED, which is one of our goals. Or are there less people in crisis for substance use because of the wellness centre? We don’t really know that.”

A research project with the new Brightshores Research Institute is seeking to determine what impact the centre’s two-week detox, three-month core treatment, up to one-year in-house supportive treatment and outpatient programming contributed to that reduction.

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“If somebody comes in in an overdose, if somebody comes in in a bad state, that does take up the ED time,” Vodden said, explaining the goal to redirect those patients to the wellness centre.

“And so I think that’s one of the most impressive things, is the drop in the ED visits for substance use following the opening of the wellness centre.”

The centre is only for people in Grey-Bruce, Vodden said. So far, 31 clients who were homeless have been discharged after treatment into stable housing. Those people probably added a lot of emergency department visits in the past, Vodden suggested. But how many stayed housed is another unknown the research institute is tackling.

Brightshores sent out a news release to mark the first anniversary of the wellness centre. The centre’s 45 beds are at full capacity and there’s a waiting list to get in. But the centre is making a difference, the release said.

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“We have seen the benefits of creating an environment that meets clients where they are and grows alongside their needs,” said Amy Bowins, the wellness centre manager, in the release.

“The programming addresses mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health, and underscores the importance of compassionate and integrated mental health and addictions care,” she said.

Meeting people where they’re at means if they’re not ready to do the hard work of confronting their addiction, they’re still invited to attend elective programs, even just for a game of volleyball, Vodden said.

When they’re ready to deal with their problems, they will have already met people at the centre who want to help, and have made connections with others facing the same challenge.

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The provincial government is opening similar centres elsewhere in Ontario, following the same a model of care, which combines inpatient and out-patient services in the same place.

Vodden said generally there’s no wait to enter detox, also known as withdrawal management. Detox centre stays used to last three days, then there’d be a six-month wait to enter out-of-town treatment — an “unrealistic” wait for most people. And once people did enter treatment, “a large number” of them would be sent home unprepared.

“And so, people failed,” Vodden said. “So they might have a great treatment program but they would still fail at what we all need to do every day, is life. We need to have family, we need to have friends, we need to have meaningful work, purpose.”

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That’s “the creative part” of the Wellness & Treatment Centre because it’s modelled on a First Nations wellness continuum that talks about meaning and purpose, Vodden said. Staff help people find volunteer work and work that’s meaningful and support their spirituality, if they wish, she said.

She bumped into someone who had spent 14 days at the wellness centre detox, after having treatment elsewhere that didn’t quite do the trick, Vodden said. She read a follow-up letter the woman sent to her.

“I couldn’t figure out what was missing in my recovery and why I wasn’t enjoying my life for the freedom that sobriety can bring,” the woman wrote. She said “something clicked” at the wellness centre and she thinks it’s the “holistic” approach which includes spirituality, as well as the physical, mental emotional aspects of addiction.

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“I had never considered myself a spiritual person. But through the integration of new concepts and the wisdom and support of the staff here, I was able to uncover and nurture a part of myself I didn’t even know I was missing.

“I truly believe that the first-of-its-kind program in Ontario has given me a chance to save my own life.”

There’s typically 65 people waiting for a three-month treatment bed. But 80 per cent of people on the waiting list participate in programming virtually or in person to keep them connected to the centre.

There were more than 33,000 outpatient visits over the past year and 483 monthly addictions and mental health group sessions, Brightshores says.

After a stay in withdrawal management for two weeks, sometimes three, clients meet with a case manager who helps work out a plan. Since opening one year ago, 202 people have come up with a treatment plan.

The plan might be to wait for treatment locally, or elsewhere, such as the Renascent treatment centre for women in Toronto, Vodden said.

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