Advocates call for supervised drug-use site at Hamilton shelter after deaths

Harm-reduction advocates are calling for a supervised drug-use space at the Salvation Army men's shelter after a recent string of suspected overdose deaths.

The Hamilton Harm Reduction Working Group is drawing the city's attention to the four deaths in the past two months hoping to prevent more tragedies at the York Boulevard shelter and others.

The advocacy group, which includes shelter workers, doctors, people with lived experience and others, also pointed to an additional two fatalities on the street and three in the community after suspected overdoses in the same period.

Supervised drug-use programs in shelters will save lives 100 per cent," said Olivia Mancini, a social worker with the group and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

But amid a rising tide of drug-poisoning deaths, time is of the essence, Mancini emphasized. It's frustrating because we're losing a lot of people."

Mayor Andrea Horwath said she wanted more details about the particular call for a consumption and treatment services (CTS) program at the Salvation Army but noted her support generally for such life-saving initiatives.

And that for me is the end of the story. We need everything that we can to prevent loss of life."

Overdose deaths are deemed suspected until probes by the provincial coroner can confirm them.

The fentanyl-driven opioid crisis led to 171 deaths - probable or confirmed - in Hamilton last year. That was up from 128 in 2020 and 106 in 2019.

The presence of benzodiazepines, which are sedatives, mixed with opioids has made for an even more unpredictable and dangerous supply in recent years.

Cory Monahan, who was sitting outside the Salvation Army on Friday, said he knew the men who'd died at the shelter.

One was found in bed before paramedics were called to help save his life, he said, noting the deaths have coincided with his two-month stay at the Booth Centre. I try to push that out of my mind because I can't deal with that and this at the same time," said Monahan, 46, referring to his own struggles with homelessness.

Supervised drug-use initiatives require provincial and federal approvals.

Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre operates a CTS site at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church. The AIDS Network and partners aim to open one on Barton Street East.

The YWCA, meanwhile, provides a safer drug-use space at its MacNab Street South location for women, trans and non-binary people who use its overnight drop-in centre or reside in transitional housing there.

But the local homeless-serving system lacks supervised drug-use spaces overall, despite a successful temporary life-saving initiative at the Salvation Army in 2021 during a COVID-19 outbreak, Mancini noted. So I think if they could do it then, why not now when people are actually physically dying in your shelter?"

That emergency effort, a partnership with the Hamilton Social Medicine Response Team and others, aimed to prevent men from leaving isolation by prescribing addiction medicine, including hydromorphone, an opioid painkiller, in a basement clinic.

This week, Salvation Army officials declined to be interviewed about the call for a CTS at the Booth Centre but provided a statement via email.

The Salvation Army understands the impacts on both individuals and families when it relates to addictions. We work with those affected and emergency personnel to help with the healing process," it reads.

We continue to be an innovative partner in Hamilton while working together with community agencies to support individuals dealing with addiction, homelessness and food insecurity."

The officials added: In some cases, a collaborative approach with other agencies is required to achieve positive outcomes for the community's most vulnerable."

Supervised drug-use sites are needed but they don't necessarily fit into shelters, said Carol Cowan-Morneau, executive director of Mission Services.

An emergency shelter is designed to be focused on housing, so that's our purpose - is to help people find housing."

Those services are better suited for the health sector to offer, she suggested, but noted Mission Services still practises harm-reduction strategies.

Monahan, meanwhile, said a CTS at the Booth Centre and other shelters would help save lives amid a volatile street supply that can make it difficult for some to judge safe doses.

It would also place specially trained staff in shelters, where workers are overwhelmed with their duties while responding to overdoses, he said.

I love them. They're awesome," he said of Booth Centre staff. These girls they work their asses off to keep us alive and we're killing ourselves."

Shelter workers are underpaid" and agencies underfunded and under-resourced," Mancini said. I think a lot of staff are experiencing a lot of trauma responding to overdoses daily."

Hamilton Public Health Services is part of a Greater Hamilton Health Network group dedicated to advancing local harm-reduction and safe-supply initiatives including in the shelter system," Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, medical officer of health, said in an email.

Public health is supportive of supervised consumption spaces as one method to continue to address the harms associated with substance use."

The city's housing services division, which oversees shelters, would seek public health's advice on a potential CTS model, and defer" to the Salvation Army on whether they are interested in exploring this service," director Michelle Baird wrote. However, within the city's current financial framework, we do not have the financial means to support these types of harm reduction services."

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com