London & Sarnia among 18 new locations announced for HART hubs

London is among the list of locations selected for the province’s new HART Hubs, CTV’s Gerry Dewan has the details.

London is among the list of locations selected for the province’s new HART (Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment) Hubs, part of a $529 million investment which will create 27 locations across the province to aid in alleviating the pressure on Ontario’s mental health and addictions services.

In addition to nine locations previously approved, the province announced 18 new locations on Monday, all of which have a goal of opening their doors by April 1, 2025.

Ontario Health Minister and Deputy Premier Sylvia Jones says the goal is to get HART hubs operational by the spring, “Each of these new homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs, or heart hubs, will have a goal of being operational by April 1st of 2025.”

Jones stressed that London’s Whole of Community Response hub model, which established two locations in the city, served as a foundation for the provincial program.

“Through today’s announcement. We are championing the innovation that began here in London, and to connect people with complex needs to tailored, comprehensive treatment and preventative services in every corner of Ontario.”

HART Hubs are built on models which have provided people with primary care, mental health services, addictions services, supportive housing, employment services, and more.

Sarnia and Oxford County are among the other locations in our region receiving hubs. London is planning a central hub with additional satellite beds.

Pam Tobin is Chief Executive Officer with CHMA Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services (CMHA TVAMHS) expressed her excitement at the program, “There will be 60 beds available within a centralized HART hub, with an equivalent number of supporting housing beds available outside of the HART Hub.”

Alongside offering supports. the new model will also add approximately 540 supportive housing units across the province, with the goal of helping thousands of people every year transition to more stable and long-term housing.

The exact location of the London hub still hasn’t been announced, with officials saying that information will come soon. They say it will be in location that currently offers supportive services.

Dean Astolfi is Vice President of Supportive Housing and Program Development with CMHA TVAMHS. He stressed that while 120 beds may not sound sufficient to meet the challenges residents see on the streets, it’s the supports around those beds that will make the difference, “The thing about the beds, too, is understanding that that’s a bed. That’s not a person. We’ll have turnover in these hubs. So, we’ll serve a lot more than 60 people on the first year; 120 people in the first year.”

A study released by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) indicated that there are currently about 80,000 people homeless in the province now, and that could double in a decade.

London Mayor Josh Morgan stressed that the hubs are not the only initiatives geared to homelessness and addictions, “We recognize that homelessness is a spectrum and so a hard hub and our hub system and supportive housing will help a segment of the homeless population. But by no means are we not active in all of the other spaces that we have to be active in to help with general homelessness in this community.”

The new locations are in addition to nine safe injection sites that are transitioning to HART hub models, after the province limited the locations permitted for such sites as being more than 200 metres away from schools and licensed childcare centres.

The 18 new locations announced on Monday are as follows:

Fourcast – Four Counties Addictions Services Team (Peterborough)

CMHA Peel Dufferin (Brampton)

Health Sciences North/ Horizon Santé Nord (Greater Sudbury)

The HART of Simcoe (Barrie)

Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (Windsor)

CMHA Hastings and Prince Edward County (Belleville)

Durham Community Health Centre (Oshawa)

CMHA Thames Valley (London)

CMHA Algoma (Sault Ste. Marie)

Services and Housing in Province (Dufferin County)

Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Addictions and Mental Health (Lanark, Leeds and Grenville)

Oxford Ontario Health Team (Oxford County)

County of Renfrew (Renfrew County)

Gateway of Niagara (Niagara)

CMHA Lambton Kent Sarnia (Sarnia)

Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre (Ottawa)

Kenora Chiefs Advisory (Kenora)

Maamwesying (Sault Ste. Marie)