The results are in from Wednesday’s community town hall conference call involving addictions treatment service changes in North Bay.
CUPE says over 2,000 residents joined in the ’emotional’ call.
Officials say 94 percent of people on the call said they oppose the closure of the hospital’s 31-bed unit.
The union says cutting the program would eliminate more than half of the residential addiction treatment beds in the city.
“It is humbling to listen to people’s stories of anguish and loss related to addiction. It’s evident that many North Bay families are affected by addiction and mental health on a personal level. They see the need for more addiction services at the hospital and in the community, not less,” says Michael Hurley president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE).
Officials say the duration of the town hall had to be extended, with many participants wanting to share personal stories about their own or a family member’s struggles with addiction and in some cases recovery.
One young woman spoke of the anguish of losing many of her high school friends to addiction.
Officials pointed out several participants said that closing the hospital residential program is a disaster in the making for North Bay, which is in the throes of an “opioid crisis.”

(photo by station staff)

Filed under: cupe, michael-hurley, town-hall