Interior Health (IH) has announced the creation of 16 withdrawal management beds (detox) in three B.C. communities, awarding contracts for the beds, including in Kelowna.
The 16 withdrawal management beds are the first of their kind for the communities they will be located in and will support adults and youth through the early stages of withdrawal from alcohol and/or other substances. Of the 16 new beds, four will be dedicated to providing support for youth aged 18 years and younger.
In Kelowna the Bridge Youth and Family Services will provide four beds.
“The Bridge Youth & Family Services is looking forward to continuing its work with Interior Health to provide withdrawal management beds in the Central Okanagan aimed specifically at youth,” said The Bridge Executive Director Celine Thompson. “Providing innovative and quality services to support the health and well-being of our community is at the very core of what we do; these new beds will enhance our ability to achieve that goal.”
The other locations are four withdrawal management beds in Williams Lake and eight withdrawal management beds in Castlegar.
“Withdrawal management beds help individuals take the first necessary step towards recovery,” said Health Minister Terry Lake. “These beds provide individual support to help minimize the negative physical and psychological effects of withdrawal from alcohol and other drugs. It puts them on the road to recovery, helping new possibilities to become a reality.”
The beds are part of IH’s commitment to create 73 new substance use treatment beds, including 57 support recovery beds. They’re also part of the Province’s commitment to add 500 additional substance use spaces throughout British Columbia. More than 300 new substance-use beds have already been opened in the past three years, and the remainder will be online by March 31, 2017.
“Our priority is to have withdrawal management beds open as soon as possible,” said IH Board Chair John O’Fee. “They are a critical support for adult and youth clients within our mental health and substance use strategy, which focuses on our desire to shift services away from hospitals and towards care being provided in the community.”