The MP for Windsor-Tecumseh is working to accelerate the opening of the SafePoint Consumption and Treatment Services site.
Irek Kusmierczyk stresses the importance of opening the site as quickly as possible, due to the opioid crisis in the region.
The CTS site is still pending approval from Health Canada as well as the Ministry of Health to open.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit Board stated on March 23 that the inspection of the building was completed and went very well.
Health Canada performed a virtual on-site inspection of the SafePoint location, located at 101 Wyandotte St. E., at the beginning of March.
Kusmierczyk says he knows how important the SafePoint site is for Windsor.
"I can tell you I have been in communication, direct conversation, with Ken Blanchette at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. We're working together to expedite that process, to get those Health Canada approvals as quickly as possible and we are on it, and we are working with the Health Unit directly on that."
He says he's not sure on an exact timeline for the opening of the site.
"I can tell you that I have been in direct contact, both with the Health Unit and also with the Minister of Health directly on this issue. And we are expecting and we are pushing for an expedited approval of that because we know how important that facility is for the community, and we know the community is united behind it."
Kusmierczyk adds that everyone in the community is aware that the site needs to open as soon as possible.
"It's something that we've heard, not just from the community, but we've heard also from health care facilities, from doctors, but we also heard it from faith communities as well, too. I mean, there was all of the different churches that had signed the letter in unison saying 'we need SafePoint, and we need to look after vulnerable folks in our community'. So we heard that loud and clear, and we're moving as quickly as we possibly can on that."
The site is still waiting for final approval from Health Canada, as well waiting for approval for provincial funding.
The Health Unit has spent more than $775,000 on SafePoint in capital and operating expenses, with more than $550,000 of that coming from the Ministry of Health's mandatory program funding.
If final provincial funding is not secured by July 2023, Windsor will be required to pay $34,000 each month until approval comes through. By the end of the year, Windsor will have to pay just over $170,000 to keep the facility open.
-with files by AM800's Rob Hindi