By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Alberta Health releases third-quarter opioid report with deaths in Lethbridge continuing to rise

Jan 3, 2019 | 12:42 PM

LETHBRIDGE – While methamphetamine may be the drug of choice for many addicts now according to Lethbridge Police, it doesn’t mean that opioid related overdoses and deaths are slowing either.

According to Alberta Health’s latest report which cites statistics until the end of September 2018, across the province 523 people died of accidental opioid poisoning, with two people on average, dying every day from overdoses.

There were 37 fentanyl-related deaths in the South Health Zone until the end of September with 22 of those deaths occurring in Lethbridge alone. Eight deaths occurred in Medicine Hat and the remaining deaths occurred in other areas in the south zone.

In 2017, there were 15 fentanyl-related deaths altogether*, and in 2016, there were 10.

In Red Deer, a city similar in size to Lethbridge, there have been 31 fentanyl-related deaths to Sept. 30, 2018, compared with 23 in 2017.

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Eighteen of the 22 deaths in Lethbridge are carfentanil-related (a sub-category of fentanyl-related deaths). According to the report, “As of September 30, 2018, the South Zone had the highest rate of carfentanil deaths per 100,000, as did the City of Lethbridge.”

An addendum to the report also shows just how much the Lethbridge supervised consumption site is being used. Since the SCS opened Feb. 28, 2018, there have been 71,289 visits and 623 overdose reversals.

Calgary and Edmonton numbers pale by comparison. Since the Calgary centre opened, there have been 36,420 site visits with 540 overdose reversals, and since the Edmonton facility opened, there have been 20,285 visits with 210 overdose reversals.

In Calgary however, until the end of September, there were 217 fentanyl-related deaths and in Edmonton, there were 129.

Most of those who are dying are men between the ages of 25 and 49. According to a map provided in the report, most deaths occur in the downtown Lethbridge area, with a few occurring at Chinook Regional Hospital, in north Lethbridge along the 13 St. corridor and a few in west Lethbridge not far from the U of L.

The rate of Emergency Department visits continues throughout 2018 to be the highest in the south zone, with 438 visits per 100,000-person years.

Chinook Regional Hospital Emergency Department is number 8 of 10 EDs in the province with 1,341 drug overdose visits from Jan. 1, 2015 to June 30, 2018.

To perhaps ease some of the pressure on the Lethbridge SCS, another clinic is expected to open in Cardston. Others are scheduled to open Grande Prairie, Ponoka, Bonnyville, Sherwood Park, and High Prairie. 

*The numbers of deaths in Lethbridge have varied in each Alberta Health quarterly report from 15 to 18 since the end of 2017.  At that time, it was reported there were 18 deaths  related to accidental fentanyl overdoses, compared to the current number of 15. 

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