The Secure Youth Detox Centre is moving from the Paul Dojack Youth Centre in Regina to the Regina General Hospital.
Due to a continued increase in demand, the Ministry of Health is permanently relocating the program to the Regina General Hospital. The Detox Centre has always been a health unit at Paul Dojack, run by the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Due to construction of the Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford, more people are being redistributed to Paul Dojack and the Detox Centre needs to move.
"With our closure of 39 youth beds in North Battleford, we need somewhere to hold them, and so what we've had to do is take that space at the Paul Dojack Youth Centre to house some of those kids,” Drew Wilby with the Ministry of Justice said.
"The Dojack Centre needed the unit that we were borrowing from them for space, for custody spaces,” Lorri Carlson, executive director of mental health and addictions services with the Saskatchewan Health Authority said.
In the interim, the Detox Centre will move two beds to the Adolescent Psychiatric Unit in the hospital, starting on March 26. Any other youth who requires services will be accommodated in other community hospitals.
The six-bed program will be renamed “Youth Detox,” and will have the same number of beds in the hospital as it did at Paul Dojack.
The unit will also be renovated to be more secure.
"The unit when it moves into the general hospital will be a locked unit. And it will be staffed with health staff,” Carlson said.
The program provides detoxification for youth who are unwilling or unable to engage in voluntary service and are at risk to harm or damage themselves or another person. Carlson believes having the Detox Centre at Paul Dojack, somewhat stigmatizes youth with addictions.
"Moving it into the hospital will actually, I think, improve the sort of view of youth with addictions,” Carlson said.
Carlson says the program has been at capacity for the past six years. An additional 11 new addictions councilors are being hired to deal with the 24/7 service, along with the several more nurses.
Renovations at the Regina General Hospital are expected to be done by June 30.
