FRASER VALLEY LEFT TO GO COLD TURKEY AS DETOX CENTRE
AXED

Critics Says Decision Short-sighted As Patients Will Still End Up In
The Hospital

The 10-bed detox unit inside the Chilliwack General Hospital only
opened about four years ago, but it's one of several services that
fell victim to recent cuts announced by the Fraser Health Authority
(FHA).

People who work with recovering addicts think the decision will only
make it harder for the people needing treatment. The FHA confirmed it
will close the "withdrawal management services" program at Chilliwack
General as of Dec. 31, although people midway through the detox
process will be allowed to finish their treatment.

Tim Bohr, associate pastor and community relations coordinator with
the Salvation Army in Chilliwack, said he was stunned to learn that
the program will be cut after only being opened for approximately four
years.

"I'm quite surprised because it's been quite successful," he
said.

The Salvation Army has referred many people to the detox program at
the hospital since it opened, and Bohr said it has been able to make a
difference in people's live. He now fears its closure will force
people trying to beat substance abuse to move farther away from the
people close to them that can provide support.

"This just means they'll have to leave their community, leave their
families," he said.

Bohr said the Salvation Army will remain committed to trying to help
addicts in any way it can.

A nurse with experience in recovery programs echoed Bohr's sentiments.
(She asked not to be identified for the news story.) She knows the
program has been crucial for many local addicts in the few years it
has been open.

"To me, it has a special place in my heart," she said. "I realize how
vital it is."

The move, she said, will only mean spending more health dollars as
people battling substance abuse will be redirected to regular hospital
wards to be treated by regular staff that do not necessarily have the
skills in dealing with detoxing patients.

"It's not like they're saving money. The patients will end up in our
medical unit," she said.

The reason the program was opened in 2005, she said, was because
addicts were ending up on the medical floor and costing the system,
and she expects this will be the result once the unit is closed.

The nurse, like other staff, only learned of the cuts through an
e-mail on Thursday from Dr. Nigel Murray, the health authority's CEO.
In addition to the closure of Chilliwack General Hospital's withdrawal
management program, the e-mail mentions other cuts including winter
and spring break shutdowns for outpatient and ambulatory care clinics;
convalescent care and hospice at Queen's Park Care Centre in New
Westminster; residential care on the third floor of Weatherby at Peace
Arch Hospital; and adolescent psychiatry unit at Abbotsford Regional
Hospital.

An FHA spokesperson confirmed people in the Chilliwack area requiring
withdrawal services will be directed to the Creekside Withdrawal
program in Surrey. The health authority plans to use some of the
savings to help with transportation costs for that program, to employ
an outreach worker at Chilliwack General to help provide resource
information, to support an early discharge service at CGH for people
after leaving the Creekside program, and to provide some home-based
detox services.