Alberta Expands Addiction Treatment with Opening of Third Recovery Community
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Summary
Learn English with Premier Rachel Notley at the opening of the Lakeview Recovery Community, a new recovery community in Edmonton, Alberta, which is the third of 11 planned recovery communities across the province, and the first community to open its doors.
Transcript
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And I am pleased to be here alongside some of the people who are at the forefront of the work to
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bring people out of addiction and into recovery. We're all aware of the impact of mental health
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struggles and addiction and how deadly and devastating it can be. Too many Albertans are
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familiar with this pain or with the despair of watching loved ones sink beneath the weight of
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these challenges. Change is long overdue and while other governments pursue more ways to make illegal
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drugs more accessible we're taking a different approach. We're giving people the opportunity to
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turn their lives around because that is true compassion. Leaving people to suffer is unacceptable
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and cruel and it's why we were clear in our aims during the election campaign last year.
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Our government was elected on the promise to improve health care delivery and especially in
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mental health and addiction and we've moved quickly to increase access to the supports that give people
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a new lease on life. We eliminated user fees for publicly funded treatment. We funded 10 000
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additional spaces so that more Albertans can use detox and treatment and recovery services. We've made
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medication-based treatment for opioid addiction available on demand through the virtual opioid
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dependency program with no fees and no wait lists. We've created same-day access to affordable and
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accessible counseling services through Counseling Alberta which you can reach through 2-1-1 and now
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the third of our 11 planned recovery communities is up and running. I'm delighted to say that the
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Lakeview recovery community has opened its doors to welcome its first clients. This recovery community
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has 75 beds which will allow men struggling with addiction to regain their health and to rebuild their
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lives in peace and safety. They'll be able to stay for up to one year and with access to an incredible
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range of services designed to help them start over. The goal is for each client to leave drug free and
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ready to begin jobs or training with the help of strong connections close to home. But they're not the
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only ones who will benefit from this community. As we continue expanding treatment options across the
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province for Albertans we must find and train more professionals to run facilities and programs. So the
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Lakeview recovery community will also host the Recovery Training Institute of Alberta. This will be a
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provincial training hub for addiction recovery staff. Students will get hands-on experience in addiction
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treatment the service these services through a teaching hospital model and we will need every single
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graduate because eight more recovery communities are at various stages of planning and construction and
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five of these projects are being built in conjunction with partnerships with First Nations and Indigenous
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communities across the province. Each of these initiatives is part of the Alberta recovery model a holistic
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system of care that embraces prevention intervention treatment and recovery. This is about giving Albertans
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the chance to heal and reclaim their lives by breaking free from addiction. Everyone who's suffering deserves
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compassion so that they can leave the past where it belongs and thank you to the Rosk Solutions Group for
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providing that by running the Lakeview recovery community. Thank you as well to all the staff who will
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deliver on the promise of the Alberta recovery model. Thank you as well to the council members who are here
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as well supporting this incredible initiative in your community and most of all thank you to everyone
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entering Lakeview. You have the courage and the strength to change and I admire that and I'm looking forward to your