Opioid deaths, ER visits down in 2023, but London still in throes of deadly crisis: health officials [Video]

Figures going before the Middlesex-London Health Unit’s board of health this week show local opioid-related emergency department visits and deaths fell for a second straight year in 2023, with early data appearing to show the trend continue into early 2024.

Local frontline agencies and health officials, however, warn the region remains in a deadly opioid crisis, with overdose deaths and hospitalization rates still surpassing the provincial average when adjusted for population.

“It’s certainly good to see the trend going downwards, but we’re still feeling like we’re in the midst of crisis,” said Scott Courtice, executive director of London InterCommunity Health Centre.

“We still lost more than 100 people [in 2023]. We know those folks, each one of those deaths impacts the community.”

The agency provides health and social services to Londoners experiencing homelessness and poverty, and operates Canada’s longest-running safer opioid supply program, which helps around 220 people at present. 

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