HAVEN FOR DISTURBED ADDICTS IN THE WORKS

The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is quietly planning to open an
emergency facility for mentally ill drug addicts.

"We're not ready to talk about a lot of this stuff in the public arena,"
said Clay Adams, a spokesman for the authority, yesterday.

"It's still very much in the concept planning stage."

Adams said the authority's proposed Urgent Response Team would comprise
doctors, nurses, police officers and ambulance staff.

The proposal is aimed at relieving pressure on emergency-room staff at St.
Paul's Hospital, who are often faced with repeat visits from drug addicts
who are mentally ill.

Adams estimated thousands of people would access the URT each year.

The URT would determine whether the client should go to hospital or could
be cared for in the community.

"It would be a non-ER location where clients could be referred or walk to,
to receive specific care, rather than going to St. Paul's," Adams said.

Possible sites for the URT include a health authority-owned building on the
northeast corner of Gore and Hastings streets and the former pretrial
centre at the corner of Cordova and Gore, which is owned by the B.C.
Buildings Corp.

Adams said the authority will finalize the composition of the URT within
the next few weeks.