In less than month, a new addiction services facility that has opened in downtown Barrie has not only provided help to those in need, but has shown there's "definitely" a need in the community.
Simcoe Recovery, which opened up Feb. 11 at 43 Collier St., is a "completely independent" clinic that offers walk-in and scheduled treatment for medication-assisted, outpatient addiction treatment services and recovery.
Site director Krista Piper said the response to the clinic has been positive and it's clearly needed.
“I can’t give specific numbers due privacy concerns and such, but yes we are definitely being shown that it is needed here,” said Piper. “Today is pretty quiet only because of the weather outside, but other than that, we’re busy.”
The recovery clinic is for people experiencing and battling opioids, stimulants, alcohol, and other severe polysubstance addictions.
Nurse Nicole Gould cleared up any confusion for those who may call the site a safe injection site, which it's not.
“No, that is not what we are. With a safe injection site, people are going there with their own substances and they have the clean materials and nurses on site to respond to overdoses,” she said. “Here, we’re not so much supporting use, but rather a recovery journey. People do not come here to use drugs; they come here for recovery and connections to services and even stable housing.”
Gould pointed out that safe injection sites also provide connections to services and information to help get off drugs, but said Simcoe Recovery acts “a little further down the line on the addiction scale.”
In addition to the recovery programs, they offer referral services for inpatient residential treatment, psychiatric services, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works contact support, Child Protection Services Support and more.
Opioid addiction is an ever-growing epidemic in the Barrie area, which is leading to higher crime and poverty in the central core of many cities. There have been increasing rates of overdoses in the region.
Piper says they are giving relief to those trying to get off drugs.
“With opiods, for example, we’re trying to prescribe a substance that lessens the withdrawal symptoms,” she said. “Those symptoms are what are often perpetuating the use, because during withdrawal they start to feel awful, get the shakes, sniffles.
"It's actually similar to a flu and that is what encourages them to use again," Piper added.
Gould said one thing that makes them stand out from other services is the quickness with which they can offer help to anyone looking to transfer to Simcoe Recovery from another clinic.
“When someone suggests to those who need help that they should switch to another clinic, the first thought is it is a lot of work. That is just not the case here,” she said. “It is super easy and they don’t need to bring anything except their health card and we do all the work on the side to get their medical records.”
Simcoe Recovery is planning to have an open house in late-March for anyone who wants to check out the facility and learn more about its services.
The clinic is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached at 705-252-7999.
