Photo courtesy: Carrier Sekani Family Services

By Caden Fanshaw

Health

‘The goal is to save lives’: Northern BC getting first-of-its-kind healing centre

Jun 21, 2023 | 3:44 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — After many years of campaigning a new healing centre will be built by the Carrier Sekani Family Services and their partners out at Tachick Lake.

The $40 million facility will open its doors in the spring of 2025 to help fill gaps in detox services and a residential treatment program.

“This is a project that our elders envisioned over 30 years ago and now it’s starting to come to fruition,” said Marilyn Janzen, Director of Mental Health and Wellness with Carrier Sekani Family Services. “The goal is ultimately to save lives, that’s what we want, the toxic drug supply crisis that’s currently going on, being able to address some of those issues is hopefully what we’re going to do there.”

Four structures will provide year-round residential treatment and the facility will offer a 10-bed medical detox program for immediate access to medically supported detox, as well as a 36-bed residential treatment program.

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The first-of-its-kind centre located on the shores of Tachick Lake will feature land-based healing. This refers to a way of using culture on traditional lands to promote wellness and healing. For this reason, it is important that the residential treatment centre, and the healing activities the program does in communities, is based on the land.

The First Nations Health Authority is one of the main partners in the project, part of the healing strategy for this region of BC. CEO Richard Jock spoke with CKPG News and said FNHA heard loud and clear from communities about their needs, and this is a great example of communities leading the way.

“There are a lot of promising developments about this particular project and I would say part of it is their design, which is also seeking to incorporate on-the-land treatment, and I would say the efforts to include detox within that and longer-term approaches,” said Jock who added the innovation to create this model and centre should be celebrated.

The Indigenous-led project will bring the first detox centre to Northern BC, and bring more treatment beds to the region that are desperately needed according to advocates.

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Twitter: @CadenFanshaw

Email: Caden.Fanshaw@pattisonmedia.com