Over 200 Albertans have died so far this year from opioid-related overdoses and the province is working to address the issue by providing a $1.2 million grant to create a supervised consumption site at the Sheldon Chumir Centre.

Officials say 122 people died in the first three months of this year from apparent fentanyl-related overdoses and another 119 fatalities were recorded between April and June 30.

An additional 33 people died from overdoses linked to an opioid other than fentanyl between January and March.

Earlier this year, AHS put forth an application to the federal government requesting a supervised consumption site at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre.

Supervised consumption services offer a place for safer drug use and also provide sterile equipment and access to treatment and emergency care in case of an overdose.

Alberta’s Associate Minister of Health, Brandy Payne, held a news conference on Wednesday afternoon to talk about the crisis and to announce the funding.

“There’s a real understanding of the need for supervised consumption services, having a safe place or safer place for people to consume drugs as well as having those wrap-around services and ready access to medical supervision has been widely agreed is really important,” said Payne.

The province says applications are being reviewed by Health Canada for services in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge

AHS has held five engagement sessions with over 100 members of the community on the proposed site and says several more sessions are being planned.

“Some of the questions that we’ve been hearing are around the public safety component. What is going to be the impact on community? But we think that by having an indoor, supervised location with ready access, not only to immediate medical services but also some of those wrap-around supports is going to help to address some of those concerns,” said Payne.

The province will kick in another $1.03 million to support programs at the proposed site and for the development of applications for other communities in Alberta.

A recommendation by the commission to sustain the development and implementation of a provincial evaluation framework for supervised consumption services has also been accepted by the province.

For more information on the province’s plan to tackle the opioid crisis, click HERE.