Group says it will set up ‘medical tent’ at Kitchener encampment

A group of people say they are planning to help fill a gap at a major encampment in Kitchener. CTV’s Jeff Pickel explains how.

A group of concerned citizens is planning to set up what they are calling a ‘medical tent’ at a large homelessness encampment in Kitchener.

In a media release, the group announced their intention to erect a tent at 100 Victoria Street. They said the decision was made in response to the closure of the Consumption and Treatment Services Site at 150 Duke Street West. The site provided a variety of services, including a drug checking program. They also offered a safe space where drug users could self-administer illegal substances they brought into the centre, while staff trained in overdose intervention were stationed nearby, ready to spring into action and offer potentially life-saving help.

“The closure of a healthcare unit that saved thousands of lives marked a sharp shift away from harm reduction policy and immediately ignited a dramatic increase in a public health crisis,” the group’s release said.

They went on to say they were concerned with the spread of diseases like syphilis and hepatitis C, as well as the number of deaths occurring daily due to drug poisoning and overdoses.

Geoff Bardwell, an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo’s school of public health science, was not surprised to hear of the grassroots effort.

“This is how people kept their communities alive before these services existed,” he explained. “If we think about other crises, whether it’s forest fires or floods or infectious diseases, communities find ways to respond that might be outside the norms of public health or outside the norms of government.”

The Region of Waterloo said they were not aware of the medical tent and are not involved in the group’s plan.

Closure of the Consumption and Treatment Services Site

The Consumption and Treatment Services Site in Kitchener closed on April 1 after the government ordered the closure of 10 CTS locations across the province.

Despite a judge’s order allowing the sites to continue operating while the courts reviewed the legality of the closures, people working at the Kitchener site said a lack of provincial funding and a quickly-expiring building lease made it impossible to continue.

Days after the closure, Waterloo Regional Council was asked to pen a letter of support for CTS sites. However, councillors deferred the decision, fearing they could put funding for the newly opened Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs at risk.

“With the legislation [the province] passed last year, municipalities and boards are not permitted to support CTS, including writing letters of support unless approved by the minister,” Waterloo Region’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, said during the April 8 meeting.

In June, Sanguen Health Centre announced the drug checking program was back up and running. It currently operates at 130 Victoria Street North on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. and is offered out of the Community Health Van on Wednesday and Thursdays. Program users can test pills, powders and solids for unexpected substances.