The Department of Health and Community Services is providing $100,000 in funding to NL Health Services to support a comprehensive review of inpatient addiction treatment services throughout the province.
The funding will enable NL Health Services, in partnership with the department, to hire an external vendor to review best practices and make recommendations regarding the delivery of consistent, evidence-based inpatient addictions treatment.
The review will involve the Grace Centre in Harbour Grace, Recovery Centre in St. John’s, Hope Valley Youth Treatment Centre in Grand Falls-Windsor, and Humberwood Treatment Centre in Corner Brook.
The review will include analysis of evidence-based best practices in other jurisdictions and recommendations for updated policies and procedures for all four facilities, such as:
- Wait time reduction.
- Length of stay.
- Relationships between clients.
- Discharge practices and community reintegration.
- Medical and non-medical approaches to withdrawal management.
- The role of virtual care in service delivery and sharing of resources between facilities.
- Gender informed practices.
The funding supports actions under the Provincial Alcohol Action Plan, specifically evaluation related to substance use services.
A call for proposals will be issued by NL Health Services with a review anticipated to be completed in 2024.
Budget 2024 includes funding for mental health and addictions services for individuals seeking help and support, including funding to expand access to programs and services when and where people need them, the mobile crisis response teams, and the Harm Reduction Team to improve care for vulnerable individuals.
Quotes
“We recognize the severe impact substance use and addiction have on a person’s health and well-being. We also recognize more work can be done, which is why we made significant investments in mental health and addictions services in Budget 2024. I look forward to the findings and recommendations of this review to further guide the delivery of mental health and addictions programs and services in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honourable Tom Osborne
Minister of Health and Community Services
“NL Health Services is committed to delivering quality, people-centred, evidenced-informed health and addictions support through a continuous improvement lens. We want to ensure that the people of our province receive the health-care services they need and deserve. Our health-care staff work tirelessly to deliver high-quality mental health and addictions services across the province. This review will provide important information to help us enhance our services for patients.”
Kelli O’Brien
Vice-President of Quality and Learning Health Systems, NL Health Services
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The Provincial Alcohol Action Plan