Drug addiction program to close at McGill University Health Centre

Article content

In the midst of an opioid crisis in Quebec, the McGill University Health Centre and the Quebec Health Ministry have decided to close the MUHC’s addiction day program and related services — a decision that is already stirring an intense backlash, The Gazette has learned.

In an internal memo, dated June 12, MUHC officials announced that after the full closing in December, “complex cases will be referred to the CHUM,” the French-language Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal. Mental health and addiction recovery advocates met on Thursday in a desperate bid to persuade Quebec’s largest hospital network to reconsider shuttering one of the related addiction programs as early as August, to no avail.

Article content

“I think it’s a disgrace,” Ella Amir, executive director of AMI-Quebec, said in an interview on Friday, alluding to the recovery transition program.

“This is a pretty unique program. It’s based mostly on volunteers. To me, this is really a model for (substance) recovery. Recovery is not happening in a psychiatrist’s office. It happens in the community. And I think that what these mentors and mentees are doing is really remarkable.

“So I think it would be an absolute shame if this program were to close,” Amir added.

In the June 12 memo, Colleen Timm, director of multidisciplinary services, and Dr. Karine Igartua, chief of psychiatry, acknowledged that closing the addiction day program and related services may give rise to “grief, anxiety and anger.” But they also suggested the closing could engender feelings of “excitement and hope about new opportunities.”

“As of last week, we have closed our wait list for elective detox admissions,” they explained in the memo.

“The current addiction day program and outpatient groups will close in a step-wise fashion with all current services closing completely by December.

Article content

Article content

“In keeping with mandates of the various partners in the Réseau (the Quebec health network), patients requiring primary addictions services will be reoriented to community programs and those with complex cases will be referred to the CHUM,” the memo added.

Although the memo does not frame the closing as a financial cutback, the need to trim costs may have influenced the decision.

“They are talking about budget,” Amir said of the groundbreaking recovery transition program. “This is also ridiculous, in my view. I can raise this money. You know, they ask for $90,000, they got $60,000 or $65,000. I think that the problem is commitment. There is really no commitment for the program.”

The decision to get rid of the addiction day program comes as Quebec — like other provinces and U.S. states — is grappling with an opioid crisis. According to statistics from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec, more than 500 people in the province died from suspected overdoses of opioids or other substances from October 2021 to September 2022.

Pierre Hurteau, a patient-rights advocate at the MUHC, expressed concern about the potential linguistic effect of transferring English-speaking patients to the French-language CHUM.

Article content

“In the current context of (the health network’s) disorganization, the (ministry) is multiplying service agreements between establishments or territories, but this doesn’t always work to the advantage of patients,” Hurteau said.

In response to queries by The Gazette, an MUHC spokesperson sought to play down the significance of the addiction day program.

“The addictions program has been in operation in its current format without modernization of the services for many years,” Bianca Ledoux-Cancilla said in an email.

“It offers a very specific treatment to only a limited portion of patients who battle addictions, those functional enough to attend such a program. It has not been able to properly serve populations with dual diagnosis or those who require a more flexible or harm reduction model of care. It is not in keeping with the mandate of the MUHC within the health-care network … where this mandate has been given to the CHUM.”

Ledoux-Cancilla asserted the CHUM offers addiction treatment in French and English. “This current plan has been made between the clinical and management leadership of the MUHC and the CHUM and follows ministry recommendations,” she added.

aderfel@postmedia.com

twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel

Article content

Article content