A development shrouded in secrecy since its approval was announced in February 2022 is preparing to open its doors after months, if not years, of delays.
According to Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli, the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence will share news of its opening date later this month.
The refusal by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Canadore College to share information about this taxpayer-funded treatment centre despite numerous attempts led BayToday to have a discussion with Fedeli in June. The MPP promised to get a progress update from Canadore College on the construction timeline and he came through.
The lack of communication regarding the project has only fuelled speculation regarding Canadore College's use of $6.84 million in public funding, its decision to hire and pay a staff without clients for more than two years, and the dubious business connections of the centre's landlord at 352 Lakeshore Dr. in North Bay. There is also some doubt in local healthcare circles about the effectiveness of this residential treatment model, one that local practitioners were moving away from until Tibollo arrived on the scene in 2021 and found a willing partner in George Burton and Frank Suraci, on behalf of Canadore.
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Questions to the Ontario Ministry of Health — which oversees the addictions and mental health file under the direction of Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo — have routinely requested information about the delayed treatment centre, including the changing construction timeline; anticipated opening date; how much of the $6.84 million in government funding remains; the need to train and pay staff for over two years (and counting); the selection of this style of a facility for North Bay after similar beds were removed in recent years; and, any concerns about the business arrangement and a relationship between Tibollo and the property owner where the centre is situated have all gone unanswered since they were initially sent in May and followed up on multiple times.
Efforts to have Canadore College comment on the same queries have also consistently gone unfulfilled.
See related: Canadore's delayed addictions treatment centre lurches forward
And: Notorious developer with local ties making headlines in the Soo
In May, via its social media channels, Canadore stated, "The site of the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence (NOATCE) has been a busy one. The contractor has received the final inspection for the floors, and it is anticipated that the drywalling process will begin once the cement has cured. The next phase, including interior walls and rooftop mechanical systems, is expected to proceed quickly. Updates will be provided, where appropriate, as the construction schedule is revised."
There have been no updates.
BACKGROUND
In February 2022, Canadore College announced North Bay would be home to a new, fully-staffed 53-bed addictions treatment centre and the school's mental health and addictions students would be trained at the facility. At the same event, Tibollo and Fedeli announced the $6.84 million contribution through the Addictions Recovery Fund "to immediately enhance access to bed-based addiction treatment supports in Nipissing."
The logic behind the Ford government sending Tibollo to North Bay to build the 53-bed treatment Lakeshore Drive centre so soon after the closure of a similar 29-bed program has never been justified. Local health care and addiction experts have been quietly wondering why the pendulum of care that had swung in what they saw as a positive direction almost immediately swung back to a model many see as less effective.
For the next two-plus years following the announcement, the construction site on the grounds of the former Lakeshore Drive car dealership was often idle. In 2022, Canadore's goal was to open by that summer, then it was pushed to early 2023. When Tibollo visited the much-delayed project site in November 2023, he acknowledged the challenges stemming from the delays and the target date was again pushed back to an "early 2024 opening date."
See: VIDEO: Update on delayed local addiction treatment centre
In July 2022, Canadore announced Wendy Prieur as its choice to lead the facility. Prieur and her staff of five have been on the clock and receiving compensation through much of the construction delay while performing their duties behind the scenes. Prieur said in November 2023, the facility's staff would grow to 22 by opening day.
Berkshire Enterprises, the owner of the property on which the unfinished Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence stands is involved in several real estate deals across the province, including Trout Creek Senior Living, which went up for sale due to property tax arrears before a last-minute reprieve in April.
Whispers of issues with contaminated soil due to the remnants of the car service area at the 352 Lakeshore Dr. property were flatly denied to BayToday by Michael Anobile, who heads the company. Details of an agreement between Canadore and Berkshire Enterprises for use of the facility have not been made public but insiders have pegged the term at 25 years.
Since 2017, various cuts and the revamping of programs saw withdrawal beds shift from the North Bay Regional Health Centre's King Street West campus to the hospital's Acute Inpatient Psychiatry Unit (AIPU) on College Drive.
Brian Rush, who earned a PhD in epidemiology and biostatics and is an expert in substance abuse treatment, clarified why services were changing in North Bay in a 2020 opinion piece. "A community-based residential treatment facility is being phased out and a host of new community programs are being phased in," he wrote.
"It is important that people are carefully matched to the level of care they need as residential treatment is resource-intensive and, further, not everyone with substance use-related challenges requires this option for a positive recovery outcome," according to Rush. "Other factors such as work responsibilities and child care also mean not everyone can participate fully in residential services. A wider range of options are required and supported by Needs-Based Planning."
Rush, who is an emeritus scientist with the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), advised a service gap had been identified by various providers involved and a consensus was reached at then-Mayor Al McDonald's roundtable.
"Through Needs-Based Planning work, we found an imbalance in North Bay, with an over-supply of community-based residential treatment, offered by both the hospital and North Bay Recovery Home and a shortage of other options, including a range of community outpatient and day/evening treatment services."
See the 2023 pilot site case study report created by CAMH for Nipissing District entitled Development of a Needs-Based Planning Model for Mental Health and Substance Use Services and Supports across Canada. The study includes references to Rush's work and includes various local stakeholders.
