The province plans to expand the program that provides care and connection to services for those with substance use disorders in Vancouver
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It was the bed that changed everything — comforting and soft, with a thin blue curtain for privacy.
“That bed showed me what life could be like,” said Ryan Top, a recovering alcoholic and addict.
Top said his life was saved by Road to Recovery, a new program at St. Paul’s Hospital. Opened in September last year, Road to Recovery connects patients to a care team that follows them through detox, transition treatment and long-term treatment programs in the community for up to five years.
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Top, 32, had been “narcaned” out of fentanyl overdoses at least six times, and lived on the streets in a long, brutal battle with addiction and toxic drug supply poisoning that began when he was a teenager.
He was used to being the least-welcome person in a room or on any city street.
When he was referred to Road to Recovery, he was sure it would be the same as every other time: “You feel awful, you have no hope,” said Top.
He had been through the “rinse and repeat” cycle of detox and relapse at least 12 times.
The moment he sat down on the bed, he knew this was different.
“This was a hospital,” said Top. “You want to leave, the door is right there, but there is this wonderful medical staff, you are in your own curtain-divided room, and peer support workers are there talking to you. There is a level of reassurance that you will be OK.”
The bed told him he was safe. He felt secure and cared for as he went through the gruelling withdrawals, and later as he transitioned out of the hospital and directly into an in-patient rehab program.
The Road to Recovery program at St. Paul’s launched with 14 detox beds, and recently added 11 bringing the total to 25. The program has served 486 patients. When fully implemented in 2025, the program will have 50 treatment and recovery beds.
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The program was kicked off with a $20 million dollar donation from Vancouver’s Diamond family, who could not find the help they needed for their son Steven Diamond, who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016 after spending three months on a waiting list for treatment.
The province has committed $23.7 million annually to support the program, and hopes to expand it across the province.
Dr. Andy Ryan, physician program director for the interdisciplinary substance use program at Providence Health Care, said the program addresses a core need by creating a “single entry point” to direct those in need to a connected stream of services.
The access central detox referral line at 1-866-658-1221 is the phone line to get access and information to anyone in Greater Vancouver, whether substance users, housed or unhoused, or family members trying to get loved ones the help they need.
Callers are prioritized according to clinical needs, with urgent care provided within 24 hours, and high priority cases seen within 72 hours.
“We heard from patients and families time and time again that there are a variety of services but not a lot of co-ordination. It was very confusing as to how they were supposed to enter into care, which led to demoralizing delays and wait-lists,” said Ryan.
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In July, the provincial government announced its plans to expand the model throughout the province.
Guy Felicella, a recovery advocate, has been part of the Road to Recovery team since its inception.
“This is essentially treatment on demand: You can walk into the rapid access clinic if you go into emergency, or call the access phone line, and you will be directed immediately,” said Felicella.
“It takes an astronomical amount of courage to show up at that front door,” said Felicella, 55, who went through detox at least 100 times before he was able to recover. “People will always remember how someone makes them feel, if it’s five times they’ve come back, we welcome them. We want people to keep trying.”
Since Felicella entered recovery in 2018, he has married, had three kids, and gone on to “pay it forward” as an advocate for reform of addiction treatment in the province.
Felicella said it will take time to scale up the program provincially, but calls it a significant step in the process.
Integrating people with “lived experience” as peer support workers is a key part of the process, said Felicella.
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Ryan Top will be going back to Road to Recovery soon, as a peer counsellor.
“It is nothing short of a miracle,” said Top.
As part of the expansion of the Road to Recovery program, the province announced Tuesday an opioid treatment access line, 1-833-804-8111, a toll-free phone number to make it easier for people to get medication to treat opioid use disorder throughout the province.
dryan@postmedia.com
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