Miklat Recovery Society is looking for approval to renovate its leased building on Arbutus Avenue in Townsite to become a primary care treatment centre.
At the Powell River Regional Hospital District meeting on April 14, the society’s director of operations Robert Fitzpatrick said his organization is the only nonprofit residential treatment service on the Sunshine Coast. The society currently serves male clients, aged 19 and older, requiring treatment for substance use disorder, with plans to serve women in the coming years, he added.
“Our mandate is to provide high-quality, evidence-based services to marginalized groups and promote wellness within the community,” said Fitzpatrick. “Miklat Recovery Society came before the regional district members on November 28, 2019, to request approval for a long-term lease agreement for use of the property at 5907 Arbutus Avenue. The lease was accepted with the condition that all renovations must be approved by the regional hospital district before construction commences. Today we are requesting approval for our renovation plans.”
Fitzpatrick said at the time the lease was taken out, Miklat board members felt that the best use of the building would be for secondary care, serving clients who had already graduated from the primary stage of treatment. He said they were to reside at the Arbutus Avenue location while receiving support.
“Since then, Miklat society has grown and matured through the many trials we have all experienced the last two years,” said Fitzpatrick. “Through much discussion and consideration, we have concluded that the best use of the Arbutus facility would be for primary care residents.”
Fitzpatrick said the society will continue to offer primary care at its existing location, so this expansion would double the bed capacity, resulting in much shorter wait times for clients seeking this essential service.
“We have found the demand for primary care has outpaced the demand for secondary care; we find ourselves with long wait lists at a time when our services are so desperately needed,” said Fitzpatrick. “Individuals struggling from drug and alcohol addiction come from all walks of life and in recent years, with the pandemic and opioid crisis, the need for recovery centres has never been so vital. Canadian adults saw a 25 per cent increase in drinking during the pandemic and the Canadian Institute for Health Information reports that during the first year of the pandemic, there was a 95 per cent increase in apparent opioid toxicity deaths, with a total of 7,224 deaths nationwide, compared to the year before of 3,711 deaths. Since then, deaths have remained high.”
Public engagement planned
Fitzpatrick said when the society took over the Arbutus location, public engagement was held with neighbours, and with the desire to change it from secondary to primary treatment, there are plans for further public engagement. He said if a change in the use of the building is approved by the regional hospital district, building renovations would begin once permits, currently under review with City of Powell River, are in place.
Renovations would be expected to be completed so the new centre could be fully operational by July 1, 2023. Total cost of the upgrade will be approximately $450,000, according to Fitzpatrick.
qathet Regional District director of operational services Patrick Devereaux told the committee that the regional hospital board does have to approve permission to renovate the building. When asked by hospital board chair CaroleAnn Leishman if the matter had to go to the regional hospital board with a staff report attached to it, Devereaux responded that was the case.
The committee gave unanimous consent to send the request to the regional hospital board for approval.
