A new addictions centre in Dartmouth will offer recovery, withdrawal and harm reduction support beginning Jan 25. The Alderney Drive centre is the first of four of these addiction support sites planned in last year’s budget. The other three recovery centres will be built in Truro, Cape Breton and Halifax over the next two years.
“It is our hope that this service will improve treatment access, meet people where they happen to be in their recovery journey and provide service that helps address the physical, psychological, social and spiritual issues related to substance use,” Dave Martell, the physician lead with Nova Scotia Health’s addictions and mental health medicine department, said in a statement.
The centre, which will operate weekdays 9am-4pm, will be staffed by a nurse practitioner, registered nurses and social workers and peer-support workers. It is expected to function as a community hub in addition to caring for some patients discharged from in-hospital withdrawal care. The site will connect people with in-hospital withdrawal care and opioid user treatment as well as community mental health and addictions programming, depending on individual needs.
"We need to do better by those living with addictions," Brian Comer, minister for the office of addictions and mental health, said in a statement.
"This includes enhancing supports and creating better access to the right level of care. This new centre will provide support to those who don't require around-the-clock inpatient care and can safely and successfully recover from addictions while remaining at home and in their community."
People seeking support can visit the 45 Alderney Drive site, call the centre at 902-425-3439 or the mental health and addictions intake service at 1-855-922-1122. People will also be referred through primary care providers, emergency departments and community mental health and addictions clinics.
