NEW HOME FOR ADDICTION SERVICES

In a move designed to save money and remove the stigma from addition
counselling, Burnaby Addictions Services is taking up residence in Burnaby
Hospital.

But even then, its new digs will only be temporary, and only for one-half
of the team.

On Tuesday, the addictions services office on Halifax Street will move in
with Burnaby Mental Health Services in the former Cascade Residence at
Burnaby Hospital.

Then early in the new year, the team will move again within the hospital
and be joined by a second team from the Kingsway office, combining two
offices into one.

"We needed to find a place to do that because I think we can provide a
better service when we have a larger team available," said Helena Summers,
coordinator of Burnaby Addictions Services.

Until a year ago, responsibility for addiction counselling fell to the
Ministry for Children and Family Development. And because of that, the
teams were located within ministry offices.

But when responsibility for the services was moved to the Fraser Health
Authority in October 2002, administrators began working on plans to
integrate the two offices into one.

This week, part of those plans will be realized when one of the two
addiction teams moves to Burnaby Hospital.

The move is supposed to save the health authority money because it will no
longer need to rent space from the provincial government.

It's also expected it will be better for clients once the second team moves
to the hospital because there will be more resources located in a central
location.

And there's yet another benefit: the move should remove some of the stigma
attached to seeking addiction counselling.

"People are used to coming to hospitals and are used to seeing hospital as
a place for health care needs and so it takes away some of the stigma that
drug and alcohol is somewhat isolated," Summers said.

The two teams offer outpatient counselling to a wide range of people, from
teenagers to those in their 70s and 80s. It also provides counselling to
other family members.

The office deals with a whole range of addictions from alcohol to drugs.
"Pretty much you name it, we've seen it," Summers said.

But Burnaby Addiction Services is not responsible for detoxification
programs - that's handled by Maple Cottage in New Westminster.

Starting Tuesday, Burnaby Addictions Services can be reached by calling
604-453-1910.