'Rapid access' treatment model for addiction comes to Windsor

A new process designed to help people quickly access medical treatment for opioid and alcohol addictions has been adopted in Windsor.

In November 2018, Dr. Tony Hammer of the Erie St. Clair Addiction Centre, had said the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) process being introduced in the city was "imminent." Now, it's a reality.

The centre on Lincoln Road provides fast access to treatment for individuals with opioid or alcohol dependence. It offers prompt assessments and medical treatments using approved drug therapies.

RAAM also includes case management, counselling, naloxone kit usage training, and referrals to outside agencies as needed.

"It's just shortening the time between when they're willing to get treatment and actually getting the treatment," said Hammer, who added delaying access to treatment can result in preventable deaths.

On Friday, CBC News checked back in with Dr. Tony Hammer. He said the Erie St. Clair Addictions Clinic is now the only treatment centre in Windsor to adopt the RAAM model.

According to Hammer, the Erie St. Clair clinic already had the resources it needed to execute the "rapid access" model effectively. It just needed to co-ordinate with other medical professionals from across the city who could accept patient referrals on short notice.

"If he or she would otherwise go into withdrawals," he explained, "rather than having them hanging around for ages, the emergency department can hand them over to one of three organizations."

He listed the Downtown Mission, Withdrawal Management Services and the House of Sophrosyne as partnering centres.

According to Hammer, there is an "80 to 90 per cent relapse rate" for patients who address their own addictions through "abstinence" — a dead stop of opioid and substance use.

"Many people have been through residential treatment locally — six, seven, eight, 10 times. That's totally unacceptable," he said.

He added that patients who go through an abstinence-based residential program face the greatest risk of a relapse or accidental overdose upon graduating from the program.

RAAM model coming to Chatham, LHIN says

The Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) first adopted the RAAM model at Sarnia's Bluewater Methadone Clinic in 2016.

"The goal there was to try out this model and see if it worked. Based on that success, we've launched in Windsor," said Shannon Sasseville, director of communications and community engagement for the Erie St. Clair LHIN.

She said Chatham-Kent will soon be the next municipality in southwestern Ontario to host a RAAM clinic.

"It's in the final planning stages, so I expect that we'll be able to come out with something new very shortly," said Sasseville.