The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is taking the next step towards a safe opioid consumption and treatment site.
According to a release, the health unit has already researched what they'll need and who they'll be serving, but the final step before they apply to the province is securing a location. An expression of interest was sent out Friday to find a community partner willing to provide the space needed.
The Windsor Overdose Prevention Society has lobbied hard for a site of their own, even creating mock sites to show what the services would look like last year.
"Overall we're really excited and we're feeling optimistic, but we also hope that something really meaningful happens soon," says Interim President Alex Perry.
She's still concerned debate over a location could slow things down.
"The site needs to be placed where it's most accessible to the people who will be using it and we want to makes sure that it's the community of people who are using drugs that are being prioritized and not stake holders that don't have the health of those people at their heart," says Perry.
The group hopes to continue an open dialog with the health unit, according to Perry.
"We've been working on getting a mobile overdose prevention site off the ground, so we're really pushing for that on our end, but anything they can do to get theirs up and running as well, we're very supportive of," she says.
A major emphasis of the treatment centre will be to provide those using opioids with addiction recovery options.
But the health unit's service will also isolate substance use, address the improper disposal of things like needles, and respond in the event of an overdose.