Yellowknife (Dec 12/03) - A lack of drug and alcohol treatment programs in Yellowknife ends up costing Stanton Territorial Hospital thousands of dollars per year, according to social groups and health officials.

The hospital spends about $5,000 per week to care for addicts suffering from severe substance abuse withdrawal -- roughly $250,000 per year. For many of those patients, it is not their first treatment.

"We see the same faces over and over again," said Celine Pelletier, manager of medical services at the hospital.

"It certainly reinforces the need for more (treatment centres)," she said.

Right now, there is only one full-fledged drug and alcohol treatment program in Yellowknife; a seven-week course run by the Salvation Army. Addicts can, however, get counselling at the Tree of Peace, the Centre for Northern Families and the Yellowknives Dene Band.

But the program -- which has been certified by Health and Social Services -- doesn't have a funding agreement in place with the government, said director David Harder.

"I don't want to sound self-righteous, but it's an important program so we pay for it ourselves. The political will doesn't seem to be there."

Bill Braden, MLA for Great Slave, agreed the GNWT hasn't provided enough support to social groups fighting substance abuse in Yellowknife and the rest of the NWT.

"NGO's (non-governmental organizations) can't necessarily carry the load themselves," he said. "The government hasn't helped these places."

As a result, some patients are referred to treatment centres in Alberta -- at NWT taxpayers' expense.

Costly process

Stanton Territorial Hospital cares for roughly one person per week going through withdrawal. At about $1,700 per day for a three-day stay, the cost quickly adds up.

Addicts are admitted to what Pelletier described as an "acute care" unit. Potentially violent patients are watched by security guards.

An intravenous drip slowly works against the pain of withdrawal, while other medications are used to prevent seizures and other severe reactions.

A number of addicts admitted to the detox unit also have psychological disorders, which can only be dealt with after they're clean, said Pelletier.

"The time spent dealing with addictions takes away from the time spent on dealing with psychological problems," she said.

"If there were more treatment centres, (hospital personnel) could focus more on dealing with those issues."

Once patients emerge from withdrawal, they are discharged with the suggestion they attend a treatment program, but many don't follow through.

Braden said the GNWT needs to completely re-evaluate the way it deals with substance abuse rehabilitation.

"There are isolated pockets of social services throughout the city, which makes it difficult for people to get back on their feet," he said.

"We need to take a more integrated, collective approach to dealing with these issues.

He proposed combining services like income support, substance abuse programs and violence counselling under one umbrella -- an approach he described as a "storefront".

"All of these issues are intertwined. It makes sense to have a collective approach to dealing with them. If we don't, we're doomed to have a revolving door."

But in the past, integrated programs like the much ballyhooed Harmonization Initiative -- an effort to combine aspects of Income Support and Public Housing which has been shelved until 2004 -- have fallen by the wayside.

"The bureaucracy is resistant to change," said Braden.

Harder supported the integrated approach, but said the government also needs to look into long-term care for addicts.

"You can't just put a Band-Aid on the issue. People aren't going to get well just going through detox. It takes up to a year."