Pouce Coupe addictions centre project continues

Rob Brown editor@dcdn.ca

In the future – if someone is picked up intoxicated –instead of the hospital, or the cells of the ‘drunk tank’ – they could soon be taken to North Wind Wellness Centre in Pouce Coupe.

Isaac Hernandez with NWWC, the longproposed addictions treatment centre in Pouce Coupe, provided Dawson Creek city councillors with an update on the project Monday.

The $20 million centre has been designed to meet an increased need for early intervention, treatment, and assisted recovery housing services.

Hernandez says the new facility is expected to have 10 early recovery beds, 10 treatment recovery housing beds, 30 plus supportive housing studio apartments, and a recovery community centre. Hernandez says while the future goal is to have 120 units – the project is aiming for 60 to begin with.

A May 2022 open house for the centre held in Pouce Coupe saw low attendance.

“(For clients stay of) two weeks or whatever time is necessary, nurses, elders, and councillors and more will work with them, then they moved to treatment centre area,” he said today.

Dawson Creek councillor Charlie Parslow noted the partnerships the project is fostering with Northern Lights College. He acknowledged the project has been in the works for more than a decade.

“I like this partnership with the college,” said Parslow asking for programs to create qualified staff to work at the facility.

Their current centre has been operating since 1996, a 10-bed facility in Farmington, providing six weeks of in-patient addictions treatment programming. editor@dcdn.ca

In May 2019, the call came in the Pouce Coupe fire department the Peace Haven building burning to the ground. Firefighters stopped spread of the fire to portions of building and contained the fire –keeping an eye on the blaze for the next day.

Come of 2021remediation and clean up work of the location was begun.