Opening a supervised injection site ‘not a simple process’; new guidelines aim to help

published on August 10, 2017 by On the Coast in CBC

With more supervised injections sites opening in B.C. and applications moving through the Health Canada approval process, the B.C. Centre for Substance Use has published a new set of guidelines for running these facilities.

Associate director Dr. Thomas Kerr says the guidelines are designed to help a health authority or other body seeking to open a facility, conduct planning, find a suitable location, staff it and develop policies.

“Opening a supervised injection site is not a simple process … when a city is opening a supervised injection site, they’ve usually had very little experience with them,” Kerr told On The Coast guest host Gloria Macarenko.