Nechako Treatment Centre to See Changes

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 03:13 PM

Prince George, B.C.- The Nechako Treatment Centre which has had its 28 day addiction treatment program closed since July 4^th, will reopen, but it will be different.

It will drop the 28 day live in program with ten beds and move to a day treatment program supported by 45 support recovery beds in Prince George, and a further 17 in other communities throughout the Northern Health region.

The new program will be cost neutral says Jim Campbell, the Regional Director for Mental Health and Addictions. The 28 day stay in program has been closed because of a staffing shortage. In order to house people 24/7, there needed to be two staff overnight. The day program will mean a savings in those salaries, and the dollars can be used for program expansion.

The new model will mean people will be able to access the program when they are ready and won’t have to wait for the “next” window to open when the 28 day session wraps up.

Campbell says during the consultations with people throughout the north, they indicated they would like to see some treatments offered closer to home, and this new model will allow that.

Campbell also says the 90 day treatment program is expected to have a higher success rate than the 28 day program.

Northern Health hopes to open the new program within a month, once a nurse coordinator has been hired.

Since the 28 day residential program closed, 12 people have had to find treatment services elsewhere.

The Youth programs and detox programs at the Nechako treatment centre remain unchanged.

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Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 03:13 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: darkken on October 29 2008 4:19 PM

Just curious:

In this day program, what happens when they let the clients out at 5 pm each day to go home?hmmm

The only good thing I see is the continuous intake process. At least people wont have to wait for months to seek help, bu I dont see where doing day sessions with hardcore addicts is going to help them overcome their addiction when they are not taking them out of the environment in which the drug addict is using after hours

Posted by: Palopu on October 29 2008 4:31 PM

You got it right darkken. This is a prime example of Bull S..T baffles brains.

What we really have here if the closing of a treatment centre for alcoholics, and the drug addicted. This facility has been here since the late sixties or early seventies, and used to be called Treatment North. In the seventies it had approx 20 beds and a 28 day program.

What we will have now is a bunch of high paid councellors, and management people talking to people on a daily basis. These people will come and go at random and there will not be any consistant treatment for any of them.

As I said. This is the death knell for a treatment centre in the Central Interior, however we have biggar things to worry about, such as 30 million dollar police stations, and 25 to 30 million dollar performing arts centres.

Posted by: Palopu on October 29 2008 8:18 PM

What we had before (for the last 25 years was a functioning treatment centre with 20 and then 10 beds and a 28 day program that kept people in house and worked with them 24/7. In addition the Government had Alcohol and Drug councellors for those who wished to go to them on a daily or weekly basis. These councellors worked out of downtown office locations.

What we have now is a **smoke and mirrors** situation which trys to show that the Government is doing something positive, when in fact it is eliminating a program that is necessary for the Interior.

With the exception of the two jobs on night shift that will be lost,. the rest of the Treatment Centre staff will stay on payroll, get the big bucks, and it will be job security for all.

Have a nice day.

Posted by: Lamb on October 30 2008 8:16 AM

We used to have intake every two weeks when it was Treatment North then it was switched to every 28 days under Nechako Centre. When it was every two weeks there were 14 clients per intake and 28 clients when it was Nechako Centre.

The night staff worked from 4 to 12 and there was no-one on night.

I think we are losing a great resource. I did my Master's Thesis at UNBC on Alcoholism, Group Therapy and Self Esteem and it provides data and a description of what went on in Nechako Centre.

Group Therapy was a very powerful and supportive component of the programme.

Under the new model the powerful impact of group therapy will be lost as there will be no continuity of groups and so trust will be lost.

I think Prince George should be yelling about this closure. imo this is a big mistake.

Incidentally counsellors were paid $14.99 per hour.

Posted by: Palopu on October 31 2008 7:37 PM

Thanks for the info Lamb. Most people in Prince George couldnt even find the treatment centre, let alone do anything about its closure.

Years ago Murray Krause had a working relation ship with Treatment North. You would think that he a least would have something to say on this issue, however as usual all we get from the Councillors at City Hall is silence.