The Overdose Prevention Site, located outside of the Lethbridge Shelter and Resource Centre. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge’s Overdose Prevention Site now operating as replacement for SCS

Aug 17, 2020 | 12:49 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Details on the new Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) in Lethbridge are limited, but Alberta Health’s new vehicle for harm reduction is now open.

After an audit found significant financial mismanagement at the Supervised Consumption Site run by ARCHES, the provincial government pulled all of its funding from the organization. ARCHES announced last week that they would cease supervised consumption, needle collection, and outreach services on August 31.

In its place is the new mobile OPS run by Alberta Health. It is plain white and nondescript.

A previous statement to LNN said that it will “offer the same services ARCHES currently runs.”

The OPS will have a “heavy emphasis on access to recovery-oriented supports such as transitional shelter, detox, and referral to treatment.”

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It will be in the city on a temporary basis until a longer-term solution can be worked out.

Monday, August 17 is its first day of operation in the city, located just outside of the Lethbridge Shelter and Resource Centre.

LNN stopped by the OPS Monday morning to check out the facility. At approximately 10:00 am, an employee told us that many people were probably not aware of its existence yet so they were not busy.

We attempted to set up an interview that would go more in-depth on how the OPS runs. We were forwarded to four employees in Alberta Health and the Associate Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions before being told that our request had been denied.

The Overdose Prevention Site. (Supplied by Alberta Health)

by David Opinko