The operator of the only supervised injection site in Hamilton — which the province is forcing to close — has been approved to run a new kind of homelessness and addiction treatment centre.
The program at the Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre will be one of 19 new hubs across Ontario opening around April 1, the provincial government said in a news release Thursday.
In August, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced 10 supervised consumption sites in Ontario would have to close as the province banned such sites from operating within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres. Thursday, the province announced nine of those would transition to a new provincially funded model, alongside new hubs.
“We have heard loud and clear from families across Ontario that drug injection sites near schools and child-care centres are making our communities less safe,” Jones said in the news release.
The City of Hamilton described the location as a consumption and treatment services (CTS) site, where …