Ontario Health says it is working to keep 53 addiction treatment centre beds in North Bay as it moves on from a failed agreement with Canadore College to staff and operate the proposed Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence.
See related: Canadore 'discontinuing' Lakeshore addictions treatment project
"After careful consideration, a decision has been made to terminate the province’s contract with Canadore College," the Ontario Health media team writes in a response to BayToday.
"Ontario Health lost confidence in Canadore’s ability to meet the operational and clinical requirements needed to open the 53 addiction recovery beds. Over the last two years, Ontario Health has worked with Canadore College officials, providing them with considerable opportunities to get this project up and running. Canadore was unable to address clinical and operational requirements."
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Attempts to gain more insight into Canadore's take on the damning statement from Ontario Health will go unfulfilled. Along with its media release issued Thursday afternoon, Canadore included a disclaimer stating the school "will not be commenting further on this matter," and directing all inquiries regarding the "future of addiction treatment and the treatment beds" to Ontario Health.
See also: Canadore's delayed addictions treatment centre lurches forward
On Thursday, after years of delays, Canadore College confirmed it is no longer part of the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence project destined for the former car lot on Lakeshore Drive.
"Canadore College will be discontinuing the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence project. We have been advised by Ontario Health that funding for the project has been terminated. All activities will be wound down early in the new year.
"The genesis of the Addiction Treatment Centre and Canadore’s involvement was the opportunity to act as a model site in the province to demonstrate a new approach to addiction treatment which encompassed a holistic approach and to be designated as the training site for treatment centres across Northern Ontario.
"While we’re disappointed by Ontario Health’s decision, we take solace in the fact that the 53 treatment beds will remain in the Nipissing region."
Questions remain as to the present level of involvement in the project by Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo, who met with Canadore's George Burton and Frank Suraci in 2021 to broker the initial proposal that brought together Canadore and the owner of the property at 352 Lakeshore Dr. Sources say Tibollo sought to open similar treatment centres in other markets, with at least some of them involving similar ownership structures.
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Ontario Health indicates the project is not dead but will have different leadership.
"Ontario Health has launched a targeted expression of interest to health service providers in the region who have the clinical expertise and operational capability to get this project done. This will ensure the 53 addiction recovery beds initially allocated to the Canadore College project will remain in Nipissing District, connecting people to the care and support they need, in their community for years to come."
The development has been shrouded in secrecy since its approval was announced in February 2022. In October, Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli was sure the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence would soon be opening its doors and expected officials would be sharing news of its opening date.
Fedeli remains positive the centre will open, telling BayToday on Friday, "Safe, quality care for clients seeking withdrawal management and residential addiction treatment remains a priority and the 53 addiction recovery beds will remain in Nipissing District. Ontario Health has moved quickly to issue a targeted expression of interest to established health service providers in the region who have the clinical expertise and operational capability needed to deliver this project."
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 had 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 Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence was to stand 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.
