VCH PLEDGES SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELLING STAYS

Despite a loss in funding for the North Shore's only substance abuse
counselling and prevention group, Vancouver Coastal Health is
insisting that patients will still receive quality care -- and on this
side of Burrard Inlet.

West Coast Alternatives Society, based in North Vancouver, recently
received notice that $790,000 in funding from VCH would be cut. The
loss represents 80 per cent of its total income.

Health authority representatives are saying that by taking over
patient care outsourced to Alternatives, roughly $200,000 will be
saved in administration costs. "Most of that we are going to reinvest
back into the program," said Gavin Wilson, a spokesperson for VCH.

The health authority expects to be counselling the same number of
clients as Alternatives has in the past and those currently receiving
counselling will continue to do so.

The move comes after VCH officials decided care could be better
managed by the authority which has more accessible resources to draw
from.

Dr. Lancelot Patrick, the North Shore's medical director of mental
health and addictions, said that while he did not want to criticize
Alternatives' care, patients with concurrent disorders -- those with
mental illness as well as addictions -- were "not being fully looked
after."

"A problem with addiction services, and to be fair mental health
services, is that they tend to specialize in either addictions or
mental health," he said, adding these two areas need to be integrated
to provide better care.

He said VCH is better equipped to move towards this integration to
"modernize" substance abuse care on the North Shore.

Alternatives executive director Alan Podsadowski disagrees.

He said Alternatives regularly treats clients with concurrent
disorders and if the patient is beyond their treatment abilities they
will seek a referral with providers under VCH, often without success.
"We have a very difficult time getting people into their program."

However, Patrick said he hopes to see money saved specifically
directed at enhancing the level of care for patients with concurrent
disorders.

Podsadowski doesn't see how money will be saved in the first place. He
said Alternatives already supplements the VCH contract -- to the tune
of roughly $200,000 -- by fundraising efforts.

"It's not being done because it saves money. It's not being done
because it's clinically appropriate. You have to ask the question why
is this being done?"

Alternatives still has six months left of funding and Patrick said
meetings regarding the transition for patients are already being held.
He did say, however, that he was "disappointed" with Podsadowski who
he said has "had other commitments at the times of the meetings."

Podsadowski said he has not attended meetings because VCH has not
provided a description of its program. "The meetings are based on the
fact that we will not exist at the end of January, but that is not the
case," he said, adding Alternatives is seeking legal advice over the
request from VCH to hand over client files.

"Our board does not want to be liable for transferring files, without
client's written permission, to the government. People are going to go
where they choose to go, and we will make that decision on a case by
case basis," he said.

Alternatives is still taking referrals and is currently looking for
new sources of funding, including the possibility of introducing a
fee-for-service scheme. The future of West Coast Alternatives' Kids
FIRST program is still unknown, however, as funding to the program is
not provided by VCH.

Kids FIRST is a therapeutic program aimed at helping children deal
with substance abuse in their family through art and play.

Patrick said that space at Lions Gate Hospital was a potential site
for subsatnce abuse counselling. He also said approximately seven
full-time employees will be brought on board as a result of the
authority's decision to end its contract with Alternatives.