St. Leonard's Community Services Receives Nearly $1,000,000 for New Addictions Treatment Beds

St. Leonard's Community Services is receiving nearly $1 million in new funding to increase access to addictions treatment services in Brantford and Brant County. These additional resources, provided by the Ontario Government, will allow for the creation of 11 new addictions treatment beds where patients can receive specialized addictions care.

“We are excited to launch this Residential Addictions Treatment Program that will provide the opportunity for gender specific Addictions Treatment programming in our community”, said Brad Stark, Executive Director of St. Leonard’s Community Services. “In August of 2019, prior to the opening of our Residential Withdrawal Management and Treatment program at 135 Elgin Street, Brantford had zero residential treatment beds. With the opening of this program, our community now has 28 beds providing quality residential addictions care. We thank Ontario Health West for supporting us and making residential addictions treatment a priority in our community.”

This funding arrives after recent data has shown that opioid-related deaths spiked by 79 percent across the province during the first two waves of the pandemic. Our local community has been significantly impacted by such losses. Brantford-Brant has had a higher opioid overdose emergency department visit rate and death rate for several years. Local surveillance data from Public Health indicates that, in 2021, EMS responded to 245 opioid related incidents, resulting in 9 deaths. These new treatment beds have the potential to save lives as they help more people in the community achieve their substance use goals.

“It is almost hard to believe the progress that we have been able to make in under four years”, said Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma. “That progress is built on incredible community partners like St. Leonard’s, that are innovators and are driven by compassion and service.”

“Both before and during the pandemic, we’ve seen a surge in demand for high-quality addictions care that addresses the unique needs of vulnerable populations across Ontario,” said Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “This investment is an important step forward to ensure that individuals and families in the region have reliable access to the help they deserve.”

In addition to the 5-week live-in residential treatment program expanded by this new funding, St. Leonard's Community Services also provides outpatient counselling, day treatment, residential withdrawal management, and continuing care for people throughout their recovery. Stark says, “The new program is embedded within a continuum of addiction supports we offer, uniquely positioning us to provide coordinated care that is matched to the needs of the individual.” For more information or to access service, contact St. Leonard’s Community Services Concurrent Disorders program at (519) 754 0253.