Creighton. Photo courtesy townofcreighton.ca
An overhaul of addictions services in the Creighton area will see a half-time position eliminated when changes take effect in a month and a half.
Creighton Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council (CADAC) has offered out-patient addictions services in the Donare Beach and Creighton area for 30 years, but its doors will close on September 30 as Mamawetan Churchill River Health Region starts managing the service internally.
CADAC is a small operation that runs with a full-time counselor, a half-time counselor, and a half-time clerical position.
The half-time counselor position is currently vacant and won’t be renewed to help with the 40 or so people on the current caseload, said the health region’s CEO Andrew McLetchie.
“At this time we’re probably going to start with the one position and see how the services develop from there,” he said.
CADAC is a unique operation that has largely been run by the same people over its 30-year run. Even in the 1990s when similar councils all over the province were shutting down and being absorbed into the health regions, CADAC’s board went a different direction. It requested to remain separate and distinct and receive funding from the health region to deliver those service, McLetchie said.
That situation changed recently when a counselor who is a long-time worker with CADAC said she was near retirement, he said. McLetchie’s understanding of what he calls a “joint decision” is that with the loss of that worker, CADAC’s board felt it would be too difficult to continue on.
McLetchie said the new counselor will still be based out of the Creighton area.
Details are still being ironed out about how the transition of services will work. The health region may have CADAC contact its clients so that those interested in continuing with its services to contact Community Health Services.
“Once we hire the counselor we will make sure we’re connecting with everybody who needs the service as soon as possible,” McCletchie said.
The health region’s current mental health counselor will help people connect with services, he said.