DETOX CENTRE NOW AT CGH

Fraser Health Authority's second medical detox unit will be located at
Chilliwack General Hospital.

Sharing the fifth floor with the facility's subacute unit, the withdrawal
management unit consists of nine beds. It opened Monday.

The unit itself is permanent, but its location may change, according to
David Plug, spokesperson for the Fraser Health Authority.

It won't move far, however, as the goal is to have it located near
complementary services like psychiatry.

Officials expect it to be busy.

Including the beds in Chilliwack there will be less than 40 beds for 1.47
million residents served by the Fraser Health Authority.

"It's widely thought we were under capacity before and with the population
growing there is a need, so we're confident it will be well attended," Plug
said.

The unit will provide medically supervised withdrawal management services
for substance-tobacco, alcohol and drug-misuse.

It will be overseen by 11 medical professionals and assisted by
organizations like Pacific Community Resources Society, who will operate
community-based addictions services in Chilliwack, and could be a point of
entry to the public health-care system and recovery for addicts.

"We like to think of it (PCRS) as a continuum of care for addictions," Plug
said. "You could think of someone out there who is abusing a substance and
has no contact and then they get a little bit of outreach counselling,
education. If they have severe symptoms and require withdrawal management
that requires medical supervision then they would go to withdrawal management."

To be admitted to the unit addicts can make the request directly or be
referred by a physician, addictions counsellor or mental health worker;
they must be willing to seek treatment.

The average length of a patient's stay is expected to be seven days but can
range up to 14. It is expected 500 clients will be served annually in the
Chilliwack location. Previously the only location offering a withdrawal
management unit was in Burnaby.

Potential clients can make enquiries about referrals or access by calling
the unit at 604-703-6986 or toll free at 1-866-795-0600.