Prince George makes for a long ride from the Northwest to reach a sobering centre ...

News of plans for Sobering Centre for Prince George make for a 
positive development for that city, though reinforces the need for
a similar centre for the North Coast

The Provincial Government delivered some very welcome news for the Prince George area on Monday, with the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Sheila Malcolmson providing the details towards a new Sobering Centre and complex care housing facility soon to come to the region, part of what the province is calling its historic investment in health care and substance use services.

“People in B.C.’s North need and deserve a seamless, integrated system of mental-health and substance-use care ... By adding a sobering centre and new complex-care housing, we are building a full continuum of mental-health and substance-use care for people in the North’s hub city.”

The Prince George Centre it was stated in the announcement, could have up to eight to ten beds available 24 hours a day seven days a week in the heart of the downtown part of that city.

And while that's good news for Prince George, perhaps North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice might want to invite the Minister to take trip along Highway 16 to the North Coast and explore the situation in Prince Rupert and other communities. 

Following the road trip they could perhaps then offer up some guidance on the math as to how those eight to ten beds that may be available; will be of much help to residents that are eight hours away at best in an era of limited transpiration options for Northern British Columbia.

Recently it was noted that Northern Health is looking towards providing for a complex care facility for Terrace, which is also positive news, though still somewhat down the road from Prince Rupert

There has often been talk of the need for just such a facility in this city, a community that does seem to have more than its fair share of need for a care centre as outlined; though the talk rarely it seems moves into any firm planning while the issues continue to challenge local officials quite significantly.

That's a situation which may be exacerbated in the future, following the provincial government's recent plans to decriminalize a range of drugs as a pilot project in 2023.

Considering some of the other health related concerns that residents of Prince Rupert have, adding the need of facilities such as the Prince George one should be added to any list that the City Council is compiling for any future discussion with provincial officials.

For now all we can do is hope that the government continues on with their historic investments and makes a little history for the North Coast in not too long a period of time.

More notes on Northern Health across the region can be explored through our archive page here.

A wider overview of Provincial themes from the Legislature is available here.