The Somerset West Community Health Centre received provincial approval in January to transition into a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub by March 31.
The red-brick, multi-storey building occupies the corner of Booth and Eccles streets in Ottawa’s Somerset Ward. A logo with four turquoise, pink and purple stick-figure humans holding hands under a grey arch is displayed above the centre’s name.
According to its website, the centre was established in 1978 as a non-profit, community-governed organization to provide health services by “removing barriers to accessing services for people who are vulnerable.”
Among the centre’s programs has been its daily-operated Supervised Consumption and Treatment Service. The website describes it as a “health service that provides a safe and hygienic environment where people bringing pre-obtained drugs can pop, snort or inject drugs under the supervision of medical staff.”
In an Aug. 20, 2024 press release, the provincial government announced it will ban Ontario drug consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres.
The Somerset West location is about a 10-minute walk from Nanny Goat Hill Nursery School and St. Anthony School. It’s the only Ottawa drug-consumption site affected by the new provincial rules.
“We are taking the next step in our plan to keep communities safe while improving access to mental health and addictions services.”
— Sylvia Jones, Ontario health minister, in a Jan. 2, 2025 news release
The August press release said that affected sites would “be encouraged” to submit proposals for transitioning to HART Hubs as part of the province’s $378-million investment to establish 19 hubs across Ontario.
These hubs, according to the press release, will connect people with “complex needs” to services like mental health care, social services, supportive housing and addiction care and support.
The Somerset West location noted in a press release in November that it had applied to transition to a HART hub.
On Jan. 2, the Ontario government announced its approval of the Somerset West transition along with nine other Ontario drug-consumption site locations.
“We have heard loud and clear from families across Ontario that drug injection sites near schools and child-care centres are making our communities less safe,” Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said at the time. “We are taking the next step in our plan to keep communities safe while improving access to mental health and addictions services.”
The news release said HART hubs would be eligible to receive up to four times more funding for drug treatment and recovery than they did under their functions as drug consumption sites.
