For decades, Kingston Health Sciences Centre’s (KHSC) Detoxification Centre has been a place where people can get medically supervised support while withdrawing from alcohol or other substances.
“Patients come voluntarily to our detoxification centre” said Jason Hamm, the executive VP for patient care at Kingston Health Sciences Centre.
“Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, substance abuse disorders that want to be detoxified from their use, which is medically supervised.”
Located on Brock Street, the centre is the largest publicly-funded withdrawal management facility between Ottawa and Oshawa, serving as a critical resource for people across southeastern Ontario.
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But as communities continue to deal with the impacts of the addiction crisis, Hamm says demand for its services has been growing.
“Last year we’ve seen about a 16-per cent increase in the number of admissions to our detoxification centre, so just under 1,400 admissions last year, and we’re seeing a steady increase to that.”
That growing need led to a $1.8 million investment from the province to expand services at the centre. KHSC says the funding has helped bring seven new nurses to the team, including nurse practitioners and registered practical nurses, allowing for more consistent, around-the-clock care.
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“We can manage patients that are detoxifying medically,” Hamm says. “We’re able to treat them, so that avoids having to send them to our emergency department or requiring an in-patient admission at the KGH site at Kingston health sciences centre. So we’re able to do it safely.”
The funding has also helped increase the centre’s capacity by 16 per cent and support renovations to the space.
KHSC says these upgrades will help ensure the detox centre can continue providing care to more people when they need it most.
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