The organization that runs the city’s only supervised injection site will now run a provincially-funded treatment centre.
The Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre (HUCCHC), which ran a consumption and treatment site out of the St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in the city’s downtown, will lead the project.
“This visionary initiative will revolutionize how our city addresses homelessness, addiction, mental health and recovery,” the organization said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The province announced on Friday Hamilton, along with five other municipalities, will receive Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment, or HART, hubs. The project is part of a $378-million investment to open 19 of these treatment sites across the province.
Nearby municipalities, like Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto, will also receive HART hubs. The province has not said how much funding will go to each site.
Hamilton's HART hub will target individuals 18 years and older “who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, require complex services, and are at high risk of fatal overdoses, with a special focus on vulnerable and marginalized groups.”
A document with details of each hub provided by the health ministry says some of the services the Hamilton Urban Core hub would provide include “safe beds and recovery transition beds to stabilize high-risk individuals immediately.”
"By tackling mental health, addiction, homelessness, and barriers to care, this Hub will provide meaningful support to Hamilton’s most vulnerable residents,” Mayor Andrea Horwath said in a statement along with the announcement.
Ontario government shutters consumption and treatment sites
Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced last August that the province would close 10 consumption and treatment services (CTS) sites within 200 metres of schools or child-care centres and ban future ones. The sites would need to shut their doors by March 31, 2025 or convert to a HART hub.
The HART hubs, according to the government, would connect people to services such as primary care or mental health treatment and add up to 375 "highly supportive housing units" along with "addiction recovery and treatment beds."
The Progressive Conservatives passed Bill 223, the Community Care and Recovery Act, in early December, solidifying the upcoming closure of the 10 sites.
Of the 10 sites being forced to close, nine received provincial funding — the same nine that will be transitioning to HART hubs, either with the same or new operators and locations.
Services HART Hubs will offer
The HART Hub, when opened, will offer vulnerable community members several different services surrounding homelessness, mental health and addiction treatment.
Those services include:
- Primary healthcare
- ID clinics and housing services
- Mental health and addiction treatments
- Residential addiction programs
- Supportive housing and social services
- Health promotion and wraparound supports
- Employment programs
“This is more than just a hub,” HUCCHC said in a statement. “It’s a commitment to addressing the root cause of inequality and building a brighter future for everyone in Hamilton.”
-With files from The Trillium
