THUNDER BAY — Although they don't know yet how much funding they're getting or exactly what they'll be allowed to do, local HART Hub proponents must kick into high gear to get everything in place in three months' time.
On March 31, the Path 525 safe consumption site will shut its doors. The next day, on April 1, people facing homelessness and addictions in the city will have access to a new model of care at the location: the Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub.
“It's going to change our organization and the service that we provide in a number of ways,” said Juanita Lawson, CEO of NorWest Community Health Centres.
Lawson learned on Thursday that NorWest was successful in its bid to bring a HART Hub to Thunder Bay.
"We have some fantastic partners that we're going to be working with and a really tight deadline to get this operational," said Lawson.
The HART Hub model, which is being championed by the province, will bring together a number of service providers to work in collaboration to address both housing and addictions through a single program. The program prohibits safe consumption services and other harm reduction measures.
Many important details are yet to be confirmed, including funding levels.
Lawson said NorWest will be working with the Ministry of Health to verify the funding agreement.
The province has set the maximum at $6 million a year or up to four times the funding levels for the safe consumption site. Annual funding for Path 525, was over a million, said Lawson.
Lawson said she will also be working with the ministry to understand how the ban on harm reduction might affect some NorWest services that weren't part of the HART Hub application, including drug analysis, which screens street drugs for contamination with potentially dangerous additives, and the Northwestern Ontario Lifeguard app, which provides regionally-specific drug safety notices.
"The closure of Path 525, of course, means that we won't be offering any supervised injection services, distribution of harm reduction supplies," said Lawson. "But the HART Hub really is, if you think about it, a huge collaborative of organizations that are going to work together in a more comprehensive integrated way."
What Lawson does know is that the HART Hub model brings service providers under one roof to provide streamlined care.
"To really look at individuals who are experiencing homelessness, potentially experiencing substance use issues, mental health issues, and needing supports for employment. And again that if we think about that continuum of trajectory of how people move from wanting to make a change in their life and needing the resources to do that.
“So we're really excited about that."
Each organization bringing together their strengths and the services they offer, she says, builds the capacity and reduces barriers "because it's an immediate connection."
"There's lots of things that will come out of this that are really positive and we're really looking forward to. You know, really supporting individuals in housing, who oftentimes need the extra supports to connect to care, and our organization as well will be doing a lot of work around primary health care.
"So yeah, it's a win-win in lots of ways."
In addition to providing health care services, NorWest will serve as the centre of the hub, coordinating between a number of service partners.
Six other organizations, in addition to NorWest will receive funding to support their roles in the program: PACE, Thunder Bay Counselling, St. Joseph's Care Group, Shelter House, Alpha Court, and the local Elizabeth Fry Society.
A number of other organizations will also be included in the program, notably the Thunder Bay DSSAB, which will play an important role in providing housing.
Path 525 is northern Ontario’s only site for consumption and treatment services. It's one of 10 slated to close at the end of March. When the government announced the closure it also said it would prioritize those locations in the application process for HART Hub funding. Nine of those 10 sites have now been approved to transition into HART Hubs.
