Interior Health is already looking to expand on its mobile overdose prevention unit in Kelowna.
Chief Medical Health Officer Doctor Trevor Corneil says visits to the unit continue to grow, with about 2,400 in June and July.
“With the number of visits in Kelowna, our service really has reached a point where looking at expansion is on the table,” he says “We’re trying to sort out what that will look like, it may look like a fixed site it may look like additional stops.”
The mobile unit hit the streets in April and added safe injection services last month with Health Canada approval. Interior Health also opened a mobile unit in Kamloops in June however Corneil says it has not been as busy at the Kelowna unit.
The units also provide counselling and referral services. Corneil says out of the 2,400 visits in June and July at Kelowna's unit, 700 led to a referral to services such as mental health and substance use counselling, withdrawal management, and even housing.
“It is serving its purpose. If you see each visit as an opportunity, we’re finding that one in every three visits involve and concludes in a referral into another program,” Corneil says “which is exactly what we were hoping it would do and we’re very pleased with the success.”
The mobile unit is available in downtown Kelowna at 455 Leon Avenue in the parking lot behind Outreach Urban Health, Tuesday to Saturday from 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm. It's at 125 Park Road, beside the Rutland Community Dialysis Centre, Tuesday to Saturday from 7:00 pm to 11:30 pm.
Corneil says once they figure out what kind of expansion they want to pursue, the health authority will engage with community partners.