Local pharmacists offering walk-in addiction and mental health treatment in Old Strathcona
The Addiction Healing and Recovery Clinic opened on Whyte Avenue on Tuesday.
The new clinic on 100 Street is a partnership between pharmacists Gaurav Sharma and Sidharth Arora, who aim to provide compassionate medical treatment to vulnerable Edmontonians living with addiction and mental health disorders.
The pair opened the City Centre Clinic and Pharmacy in 2020 and saw the need for similar services south of the river.
'There's folks, individuals, they don't like to cross the river and they need help in this part of the city,' Sharma said.
'This is a marginalized population who often don't get treated very well if they try and call a cab or get onto the LRT, so we want to provide the service to the individuals where they can access it most easily for them,' added psychiatrist Dr. Pierre Chue.
The AHRC is open seven days a week, with a team of doctors, psychiatrists and nurses to diagnose and oversee treatment for patients with substance use and mental health issues.
The centre is owned and operated by the pharmacy and does not receive any public funding. Clients must have an active Alberta Health Care number to be seen at the clinic and prescriptions are not covered.
An outreach worker on site is available to help patients apply for income support, or get referrals for housing, clothing and meals.
'They get everything at the one place,' Sharma said. 'They don't have to go to five different places and wait long wait times.'
'Any delay in terms of accessing treatment often means that they will seek treatment elsewhere or will self medicate,' Chue said. 'The goal for me … is really to provide some services as quickly as possible and then we can always add to that or dovetail what may be required down the road.'
Last year in the same area, a health hub from Boyle Street Social Services – which included an overdose prevention site – was scrapped amid strong community pushback.
The new centre does not provide detox, rehabilitation or supervised consumption services and Arora said it has been received positively by the surrounding community.
'They were very happy,' Arora said. 'They said, 'Wow, there is someone who is coming here to help out people out here.''
The City Centre clinic, which offers the same services, has treated about 1,600 people since opening in 2020.
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