Residential Withdrawal Management site in final stage before approval: Romano

As a group advocating for the completion of a new Residential Withdrawal Management site prepare to demonstrate at the former Sault Star building on Thursday, the MPP for Sault Ste. Marie says the project is in the final stage before final funding can be announced.

An initial $343,000 in operational funding for the project was announced in May of 2021, but the capital funding that will cover the actual cost of the construction has not been finalized, almost one full year later.

Sault Area Hospital (SAH) put out a request for tender for the 20-bed project with a deadline for March 15, but a winning bid has not yet been announced.

The hospital operated the former 16-bed Detox Centre on Queen Street. and currently houses the withdrawal management program temporarily at its site on Great Northern Road.

This has prompted some local advocates for the project to question why it is taking the province so long to announce final funding so construction can get underway.

Connie Raynor-Elliott is the founder of Save Our Young Adults (SOYA), a non-profit dedicated to helping people living with substance use disorder. She hopes the announcement for the funding is not being held off until closer to the upcoming provincial election.

“We know the tender went out and it closed on the fifteenth of last month, but where is the transparency? Why isn’t the public aware of this? Why do we have to keep digging for information?" said Raynor-Elliott. "I think what is going to happen is they are going to use it as a political thing. I’m sorry but that’s not right."

A demonstration by members of SOYA and others advocating for the project's completion is planned for Thursday evening at the 145 Old Garden River Rd. site.

Reached by phone on Tuesday, MPP Ross Romano said the Ministry of Health is very close to making an announcement for final funding for the project and he has been in constant communication with Christine Elliott, Ontario's minister of Health, through the entire process.

"The tender has gone out, there has been tenders provided and we are at literally the last phase," said Romano. “We officially cannot announce the funding and the tender. That will hopefully be very, very soon."

The architectural plans have already been drafted by IDEA, Inc. and Tulloch Engineering has provided the engineering requirements for the project. All that is left is for a contractor to be selected to complete the work.

"I can tell you we are essentially at the ninth of 10 phases. It’s a very arduous process, going through every one of the phases," said Romano. “I was speaking with Minister Elliot as recently as last week and I will be speaking with her again this evening to make sure we can get to awarding the tender and getting construction started as soon as possible."

Brandy Sharp Young, communications manager for SAH, confirmed the public tender process for the project concluded on March 25.

"At this time, additional information and details regarding the development of the facility are under embargo by the Ministry of Health. The embargo prohibits Sault Area Hospital from publicly providing a further update on the facility," she said.

SAH moved the program into the hospital in March of 2020 after an appliance fire forced the closure of the Detox Centre located at 911 Queen St. E. 

Originally the program was staffed with addictions services workers trained to provide psycho-social support, coaching, education and other supports, but SAH added registered nurses when it moved into the hospital.

The 20 beds planned for the new building will be an increase over the 16 that were in operation at the Detox Centre. Four acute care beds will remain in operation at SAH after the program moves to the Old Garden River Road site.

“They have done some amazing things with the withdrawal management being at Sault Area Hospital, they really have, but there’s still not enough beds," said Raynor-Elliott. "People are still going to Elliot Lake because there’s not enough beds."