Michael Garron Hospital opens new Women’s Withdrawal Management Services to enhance support for women-identifying individuals with mental health and substance use concerns

August 24, 2022 (Toronto, ON) – Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) is launching a new Women’s Withdrawal Management Services facility at 989 Danforth Ave. The space opens to clients on August 25.

The facility is the first of its kind in East Toronto and will enhance MGH’s capacity to support women-identifying individuals with mental health and substance use concerns. Previously, there were no dedicated women’s withdrawal management services beds available between the city of Oshawa and Bathurst Street.

The site provides a compassionate and culturally competent space for healing and respite for individuals aged 16 and older who identify as women, non-binary, two-spirit and trans, and who are in an acute state of intoxication or withdrawal from alcohol and/or other substances.

Addressing Toronto’s rapidly growing opioid crisis and Emergency Department pressures

This service is especially important given the ongoing opioid crisis, which saw 511 opioid-related deaths in Toronto in 2021. This represents a 74% increase from 2019 and a 273% increase from 2015.

City data also indicates that, in fall 2021, there were 3,947 opioid-related visits to hospital emergency departments in Toronto – the highest number recorded since 2017.

MGH’s Women’s Withdrawal Management Services also has the capacity to support referrals from hospital emergency departments across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), which are experiencing pressures related to staffing and an increase in patient volumes.

The facility is open 24/7 to individuals who self-refer or who are referred by a clinician or member of the community.

Referrals are accepted every day from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. through Central Access for Addiction Services Toronto at 1-866-366-9513. Referrals may also come from MGH’s Emergency Department.

Trauma-informed, gender-transformative services available

MGH’s Women’s Withdrawal Management Services offers six crisis (short-term) beds; 10 house program (longer stay) beds; psychosocial and stabilization support for those experiencing a substance use-related crisis; and connections to other community resources such as housing, harm reduction services and community case management.

A prescriber is available on-site to manage non-complex medical withdrawal complications. Nurses are available on-site seven days a week to provide health assessment, counselling and basic primary care.  

These staff are part of an interprofessional team of healthcare providers from MGH that also includes withdrawal management counsellors and social workers, many of whom identify as women.

The Neighbourhood Group Community Services (TNG) provides case management support to clients during their stay as well as time-limited transition support after the client is discharged.

MGH Women’s Withdrawal Management Services also provides culturally safe treatment for women-identifying clients who are First Nations, Inuit and Métis through partnerships with Indigenous organizations such as Mdewgaan Lodge, operated by Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, and Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society.

MGH, TNG and Native Child and Family Services of Toronto are part of East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP), the Ontario Health Team (OHT) serving East Toronto.

Safe space for individuals in recovery

All services at MGH’s Women’s Withdrawal Management Services are BIPOC- and 2SLGBTQIA+-friendly. They operate from core foundations of trauma-informed, gender-transformative and anti-oppression philosophies.

The facility is bright, welcoming and fully accessible. It features semi-private community rooms and laundry services, gathering spaces for group-based programming, a quiet room and access to computers and phones and bathroom facilities with showers and a large bathtub.

It is located beside MGH’s existing Men’s Withdrawal Management Services but is a separate facility, ensuring there is a safe space in East Toronto for all individuals in recovery. 

Expanding number of women’s beds in health system

MGH’s new Women’s Withdrawal Management Services emerged from a need in the GTA for more dedicated supports for women-identifying individuals seeking withdrawal management services.

The site is part of a larger plan, funded by Ontario Health, to expand the number of dedicated women’s withdrawal management services beds in the GTA following the transition of University Health Network’s (UHN) Women’s Own Withdrawal Management Centre to MGH and Unity Health Toronto (Unity) in October 2021.

With this program transition, MGH will operate one facility with 16 beds and Unity will continue to operate one facility with 21 beds. This increases the overall number of women’s beds in the system from 22 to 37.

Women who need access to withdrawal management services in the GTA will greatly benefit from these additional beds and the geographic expansion to two separate sites.

Locally designed and developed initiative

MGH’s new Women’s Withdrawal Management Services is part of the hospital’s Withdrawal Management Program, which takes a comprehensive approach to supporting people who use substances.

The Withdrawal Management Program focuses on providing clients with a seamless pathway from the Emergency Department to inpatient withdrawal management and then to outpatient substance use treatment.

Clients may be connected with time-limited case-management support after they are discharged to promote long-term recovery.   

MGH worked collaboratively with other ETHP member organizations to identify the need for dedicated women’s withdrawal management beds.

This group includes staff and leaders from healthcare, social services and community organizations such as MGH, Street Haven and South Riverdale Community Health Centre, who meet regularly to improve and enable integrated care for individuals in East Toronto with substance use and mental health concerns.

The development process involved engaging individuals who have used withdrawal management services in Toronto to help ensure MGH’s Women’s Withdrawal Management Services is as client-centred as possible.

Quotes

“Many women-identifying individuals who use substances have experienced abusive or violent situations, so being in an environment where there are other men can be triggering, traumatic and not helpful for treatment. Having more dedicated women’s withdrawal management beds means more women have a place where they can feel safe and supported in their journey and are equipped with the tools they need for long-term success. It makes all the difference when it comes to taking that first step to recovery.”

– Gail Teabo, local resident with lived experiences of mental health and substance use concerns and former client of withdrawal management services in Toronto

“As we continue to navigate the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and the opioid crisis, Michael Garron Hospital is thrilled to work with partners to offer dedicated women’s withdrawal management services in East Toronto. The facility, and the compassionate care it provides, will greatly benefit women-identifying individuals with substance use concerns across the health system and is a welcome addition to the hospital’s comprehensive Withdrawal Management Program, which aims to seamlessly transition clients from the Emergency Department to inpatient to outpatient care.”

– Mark Fam, Vice President, Clinical Programs at Michael Garron Hospital

“Michael Garron Hospital’s Women’s Withdrawal Management Services offers a safe place for Street Haven’s addiction services clients to start their treatment journey. It also gives them an opportunity to exit a space in their own lives that may include intimate partner violence, incarceration, homelessness or judgment – things that are not physically, medically, socially and emotionally conducive to recovery. In addition, the facility allows our clients to detox in a way that is non-judgmental and as comfortable as possible, offering a bridge between their using lives and our treatment program.”

– Hayley Bloom, Director, Addiction Services at Street Haven

“The Neighbourhood Group Community Services is excited to partner with Michael Garron Hospital to deliver life-saving withdrawal management care to women. The opioid crisis is one of the most devastating public epidemics of our time and demands an urgent and comprehensive response. Seamless and holistic case management supports to women in hospital, in residential care and in the community is vital, and we are proud to offer inclusive, compassionate and trauma-informed care.”

– Bill Sinclair, CEO at The Neighbourhood Group Community Services

“We are very pleased to see this much-needed Women’s Withdrawal Management Services facility launching. It is a welcome addition to the integrated network of supports that health system partners in the region have been working to build for people with substance use concerns in Toronto region, and provides a more robust service model for women-identifying individuals in East Toronto. Congratulations to the team at Michael Garron Hospital for ensuring this type of care is available for women-identifying individuals in your community!”

– Anna Greenberg, Chief Regional Officer, Toronto and East at Ontario Health

About Michael Garron Hospital

Nestled in the heart of East Toronto, Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) is a vibrant community teaching hospital serving more than 400,000 people in 22 distinct neighbourhoods. For more than 90 years, MGH has delivered high-quality, patient-centred healthcare services to families along the continuum of care, from welcoming a new life to facing end-of-life. MGH is a full-service hospital with strong community and research partners, including the University of Toronto. MGH is a proud member of East Toronto Health Partners, the Ontario Health Team serving East Toronto.

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