B.C. physicians’ group calls on province to create space in hospitals for overdose prevention – CBC

Volunteers set up overdose prevention site outside Victoria hospital

Feb 18, 2025

An independent group of physicians on Vancouver Island is renewing calls for B.C.s Ministry of Health to make good on a promise to create space for overdose prevention at acute care facilities.

An unsanctioned overdose prevention site has been set up near the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, where volunteers with experience in recognizing and responding to drug overdoses will be on hand.

Among those at the site will be B.C.’s former chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe, who has long advocated for more harm reduction for people who use substances.

“We are still losing five or six people every single day of every week of every month. Anything we can do to address the harms, to reduce the deaths, I am wholeheartedly in support of, and that includes this pop-up overdose prevention site,” LaPointe told CBC’s On The Island host Gregor Craigie.

“If [our team] saves one life today, that would be absolutely fantastic.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/physicians-overdose-hospital-site-1.7462111