DRUGS CAUSE HALF OF HOSPITAL'S ER VISITS

Half of the emergency ward visits at Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH) are
drug- and alcohol-related, health authorities say, and 40 per cent of the
hospital's entire patient load at any given time is in some way involved
with chemical dependency.

A November, 2000 report obtained by The Leader indicates that 50 per cent
of the 75,000 people who come to the SMH emergency ward annually are there
for drug-related reasons.

It's costing taxpayers millions of dollars annually, acknowledges a
representative with the Fraser Health Authority (FHA). The study conducted
by SMH's Chemical Dependency Resource Team concluded that there's an
"urgent" need to deal with the number of drug-related visits at SMH.

It recommends implementing a specialized team including a social worker,
nurse, doctor and pharmacist to "identify assess and intervene" in
drug-related cases, referring chemically dependent patients to community
treatment programs.

"The only alternative is to do nothing, and this is not a feasible
alternative," the report states.

The report also indicates a significant percentage of drug- and
alcohol-related patient visits in other areas of the hospital, including:
25 per cent of critical care patients, 30 per cent of general medicine,
surgery and oncology, and 40 per cent of acute care patients.

The report identifies a total province-wide cost of drug dependency of
$2.27 billion annually, and of that, close to $500 million is in
health-related costs.

While the report was received two years ago, the recommendations haven't
been put in place yet.

FHA spokesman Don Bower said Monday the regional health authority hasn't
acted on the information yet because the month after it was received, the
agency was reorganized.

"While there's no question there's a need to go forward with this, it
hasn't happened yet," Bower said.

"Certainly they are huge costs, there's no doubt about that," Bower said.
"Obviously drug and chemical dependency is something that needs to be
looked at - we're aware of that."

The high costs and delay by the FHA in implementing the report's
recommendations, are being used as a business case for a $5-million drug
and alcohol treatment centre beside the Surrey hospital.

When complete, the treatment facility will include 10 to 12 detox beds,
employment and education services, a 30-bed graduated recovery area, and 28
treatment beds.

Michael Wilson, executive director for the Phoenix Society - a local drug
and alcohol recovery service - is helping spearhead the proposal. On
Monday, he asked Surrey council for $20,000 to go toward the first phase of
the project. Initial costs include programming, pre-design, design
development, budgeting and municipal approvals. Wilson intends to use his
own 1.6-acre property at 13686 94A Ave. for the facility, which could take
two years to build.

Council gave preliminary approval to the expenditure, but some councillors
are concerned about who will pay for the full cost of the facility.

Wilson's report to council identified a future request for $500,000,
causing Coun. Marvin Hunt to comment, "This is just more provincial
downloading."

He said he was unlikely to support the next funding request.

"The rest is a pie-in-the-sky wish list."

Most of the funding in Wilson's plan comes from the private sector and
senior levels of government.

Minister of State for Mental Health Gulzar Cheema is in charge of the
addictions services for the province, and says his entire $64-million
addictions budget has been transferred to the health authorities. Of that,
$13 million was given to the FHA.

"Every cent has been given to them across the province," Cheema said. "We
are not committing any money at this time, they (the Phoenix Society) have
to talk to the FHA."

Bower said the FHA only recently learned that Wilson's group was proposing
to build a treatment complex. He couldn't say if the authority has
established a position on the facility, or whether the FHA would help
finance it.

Several reports show that drug and alcohol treatment has a significant
return on investment.

One of the foremost studies was conducted in California in 1994 and
involved 1,900 drug addicts and alcoholics. The study showed that for every
dollar spent on treatment, seven dollars were saved on drug-related costs.