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Keremeos youth treatment centre won’t re-open

Ashnola at the Crossing will be replaced by 30 treatment beds split between 2 new locations
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Ashnola at the Crossing. (Keremeos Review - File)

After Ashnola at the Crossing closed its doors in 2021, the Keremeos-based residential addiction treatment centre for youth won’t be coming back.

Ashnola at the Crossing closed down on March 31, 2021 after the Provincial Health Services Authority decided not to renew their contract and funding with the Pacific Community Resources Society that operated the facility.

Since then little information has been shared from the PHSA regarding the future of the Youth Substance Use Treatment program. An update to the BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services page for Ashnola at the Crossing stripped it of its old name, and added plans to relocate and reopen in late 2021.

By the start of 2023 that page still displayed the outdated information, including the original date for reopening.

READ MORE: Keremeos youth addiction treatment centre to close

Contacted for an update, the BC MHSUS and the PHSA replied in an email on Jan. 6 that contracts are currently being finalized following a request for proposals.

Those contracts will be for two locations that will be located centrally near two urban centres. As the contracts have not been finalized, when asked for more detail as to which urban centres these locations would near, the BCMHSUS didn’t have any further information.

After the Review reached out to BC MHSUS, the webpage was updated to state there are now plans to open referrals from health care providers in the spring of 2023.

The old Ashnola at the Crossing’s 22 bed facility, which was built by the Central City Foundation in 2009, will be replaced by 30 substance-use treatment beds split between the two new locations.

“These locations will give access to the staff and resources needed for a high-quality, specialized treatment program,” said Ben Hadaway, the communications manager for BC MHSUS.

Ashnola at the Crossing had provided services for youth and young adults from the ages of 17 to 24, and had provided care for up to 80 individuals a year.

After the PHSA informed the Pacific Community Resources Society that they would not be renewing their contract in 2021, they placed a new contract up for proposals. That contract included requirements that excluded the society from even making a bid.

It also included requirements that the society determined were at odds with their values according to an announcement made regarding the closure of the facility.

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Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
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