New provincewide Opioid Treatment Access Line provides same-day access to care
The Province has launched the Opioid Treatment Access Line to make it faster and easier for people to get life-saving medication to treat opioid-use disorder and get connected to same-day care.
“When people struggling with opioid addiction decide to reach out for help, they need access to treatment and care quickly, free from barriers,” said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “This new confidential access line will help people across B.C. start on a path to recovery right away. It’s part of our work to expand access to treatment and recovery so people can get the care they need, where and when they need it.”
The Opioid Treatment Access Line is a provincewide telephone-based health service. People struggling with opioid addiction can call 1 833 804-8111 toll-free for immediate assistance from a dedicated team, including doctors and nurses, who can prescribe life-saving opioid agonist medications. Callers will also be directly connected to regional health-care teams for ongoing treatment and support within their community. Dedicated nurses will help make sure people are getting the longer-term care they need. The service is confidential, the treatment is covered under BC PharmaCare, and it is available seven days a week from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
It is estimated that there are at least 125,000 people living with opioid-use disorder in B.C., and there are approximately 24,000 people currently on opioid agonist treatment. The Opioid Treatment Access Line will help many people, especially those in smaller communities, who find it challenging to find a local clinic or prescriber.
The Opioid Treatment Access Line supports the expansion of the Road to Recovery program across all regions of B.C., and serves as an immediate measure to improve access to opioid-addiction treatment. This is part of the Province’s comprehensive effort to ensure individuals receive the treatment and recovery care they need, prevent overdose deaths and keep people and communities safe.
“Opioid agonist treatments can reduce the harmful symptoms of opioid use and support long-term recovery, but too often people face challenges with getting a prescription when they need it,” said Dr. Penny Ballem, the Premier’s special adviser on health care. “Through this new telephone service, people from anywhere in B.C. can quickly and easily get an assessment and be prescribed the treatments they need to start their healing journey.”
Opioid agonist treatment uses medications such as buprenorphine/naloxone, methadone and slow-release oral morphine, prescribed by a trained doctor or nurse to prevent withdrawal symptoms and reduce the risk of overdose. Opioid agonist treatment is an evidence-based approach used widely across Canada and around the world. It is the recommended first-line treatment for people with opioid addiction and has been shown to help people stabilize their health and life, stay in treatment, stay away from toxic opioid use and start a path to recovery.
The toxic-drug crisis continues to devastate families across B.C. and North America, and men working in the trades are over-represented in the number of deaths from overdose. A BC Coroners Service report from 2022 found that of the 35% of people who were employed at the time of their death, 52% of them worked in the construction, trades or transport industry. The Province has been working with the sector to expand Tailgate Toolkit, a harm-reduction program that aims to educate employers and employees about the risks and supports available to them. The Opioid Treatment Access Line is another tool to add to that toolkit.
“It can be especially hard for people in the construction industry to overcome stigma and ask for help with an addiction. There is a need to remove further barriers that cause people to turn away,” said Vicky Waldron, executive director of the Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan. “We are hopeful that the Opioid Treatment Access Line will improve access to treatment and care for construction workers who are struggling.”
In addition, the Province is supporting the Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan with the expansion of the BuildStrong App, an app for construction workers that provides on-demand access to mental-health and addiction support, including tools and techniques for managing stress and anxiety, tips for overcoming addiction challenges, and information about treatment options.
More details about B.C.’s work to address the toxic-drug crisis and expand treatment and recovery services is available on a new website: https://gov.bc.ca/BetterCare
Quote:
Adrian Dix, Minister of Health –
“Timely access to care is crucial for those dealing with opioid addiction. Our new access line provides same-day support and is an important step forward, which will help save lives and addresses the fear and stigma that often prevents people from getting the help they need.”
Dr. Andy Ryan, addiction medicine physician at St. Paul’s Hospital, and medical director of the Road to Recovery program at Providence Health Care –
“As an addiction-medicine physician, one of the great frustrations is the missed opportunities to provide care for someone when they are ready to ask for help. Too many times I have witnessed or heard stories of someone sent to a clinic in another town or waiting to seek care because they didn’t know where to turn at that moment. I’m so pleased that this new service will change that, making evidence-based treatment and care more widely accessible to people when they need it.”
Quick Facts:
- B.C. now has 3,645 publicly funded substance-use treatment beds, including 659 beds opened since 2017 with more to come.
- More than 4,600 people received publicly funded live-in treatment and recovery support last year – 1,000 more than the year before.
- More than 1,500 people accessed detox beds through Vancouver Coastal Health’s Road to Recovery Access Central phone line (1 866 658-1221) between Oct. 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, with people prioritized as urgent able to access a bed within one day.
- In 2021, B.C. became the first province in Canada to train nurses to prescribe opioid agonist medications, and nearly 200 nurses in the province are already helping people access this life-saving treatment with more to come.
- The number of toxic-drug deaths in the first six months of 2024 was 9% lower compared to the same period in 2023, and the rate of death was at its lowest point in four years.
- There have been 4.8 million visits and 30,000 overdoses survived at overdose-prevention and supervised-consumption sites since 2017.
Learn More:
To learn how B.C. is building better mental-health and addiction care, visit: https://gov.bc.ca/BetterCare
To learn more about the Opioid Treatment Access Line, visit: https://HelpStartsHere.gov.bc.ca/OpioidTreatment
To learn more about the Tailgate Toolkit program for trades workers, visit: https://thetailgatetoolkit.ca
To find a treatment option that works for you, visit: https://HelpStartsHere.gov.bc.ca
To learn how government is working to keep people and communities safe, visit: https://strongerbc.ca/SafeCommunities
To learn more about Road to Recovery’s new model of seamless addictions care, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/RecoveryGraphic.pdf
Two backgrounders follow.