Sobering Centre coming soon
PRINCE GEORGE – Originally BC Housing had earmarked the location at First Avenue and Dominion Street for a sobering centre. But plans have changed and a location on Second Avenue is the new location for the centre with Northern Health assuring work is underway to get the facility open soon.
“There were some renovations that had to occur,” explains Penny Anquish, COO for Northern Health Those have already happened. Right now, they’re in a position where they’re just having to put up some sort of walls between the bed spaces that are there. So that’s the only piece that’s really left to do there. And now they’ve got staffing for hiring staff and so on. That’s well underway as well. And so again, you know, for sure by the end of July is what we’re looking at.”
A sobering centre has been on the local RCMP Superintendent’s radar since taking the top job in 2019. He says the RCMP holds countless people in cells overnight due to intoxication either by alcohol or drugs where they could be better served with a sobering centre.