DETOX CENTRE MOVE LAUDED BY SERVICE PROVIDERS

News of the Maple Cottage Detox Centre relocating to Surrey has elated
local service providers.

"Awesome, we've talked about this for 30 years," said Peter Fedos,
program manager of Hyland House, a 69-bed integrated shelter complex
in Newton.

Up to 70 per cent of Surrey's homeless are addicted to drugs or
alcohol, and service providers say a large number of those could
benefit from detox.

Having a detox in Surrey is crucial, Fedos says. When Maple Cottage
was in New Westminster, it was was frequently occupied by Vancouver
clients.

"It's a definite need, and it was critically identified at a regional
steering committee on homelessness," Fedos said Wednesday. "There's no
detox services this side of the (Fraser River) at all."

The Leader first reported Wednesday the plan to move Maple Cottage to
Surrey, a concept heralded by service providers and politicians as a
coup for this city.

Administrators at Maple Cottage are working with the City of Surrey's
real estate division to find an appropriate location for a 22-bed
detox facility, as the Fraser Health Authority looks to centralize
medically supervised detoxification from alcohol and drugs.

A number of physicians and addictions specialists say the weakest link
in Surrey's "continuum of services" is a lack of a local medically
supervised detox.

Susan McKela, manager of health services for Maple Cottage Detox, told
The Leader in an interview the facility is looking at a central
location for all 22 beds.

It is also licensed to handle up to three adolescents between the ages
of 14 and 18, making it the only detox in the Fraser Health Authority
offering that service.

Mayor Doug McCallum told The Leader Tuesday he would welcome Maple
Cottage provided it "had a good track record."

Maple Cottage offers medically supervised detox, the most intensive
available outside a hospital setting.

Fedos said Surrey will also need additional services to continue
treatment after people detoxify, but the Maple Cottage move is promising.

"It's a start," Fedos said."Without it, look where we're at. With it,
it's going to be a strength."