Thorpe Recovery Centre in Blackfoot. Photo submitted
The Alberta Government contributed approximately $13 million to Addiction & Recovery Centres across the province including Thorpe Recovery Centre in Blackfoot on February 1. Thorpe Recovery Centre’s CEO, Teressa Krueckl, attended the presentation in Calgary and was extremely grateful for the $2.21 million per year they will receive to fund 574 more treatment spaces. “I hope people grasp what it means for our community and our province. It’s huge that having a bed isn’t the barrier anymore for detox. Operating during a down turn in the economy and an opioid crisis, we had been operated at about 30 per cent capacity. An inadequate funding model on the province made it impossible to operate. We were basically only able to admit one out of every five calls we were getting. Our waitlist was over 6 months. We had either lost them to their addiction, they were still actively using and uninterested in coming in, or had gone elsewhere. There was a sense of frustration with not having enough beds,” said Krueckl. Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright MLA, Garth Rowswell said, “I am delighted that the Thorpe Recovery Centre is to receive additional funding. Addiction is a large and growing public health and safety problem across Canada, but we know that treatment works and recovery is possible. The previous government shifted resources away from proven intervention, treatment and recovery programs, so we are bringing a more balanced approach to ensure that Albertans have better access to the care they need to recover. Our government has committed $140 million over four years to create a recovery-oriented comprehensive continuum of care for addiction services. We are fortunate to have this excellent facility here in our riding.” Following the announcement on February 1, Krueckl continued, “This huge insertion of beds is so significant for us, and funding has allowed us to provide treatment to our community and all across Alberta. We now have 8 out of 12 medically supported beds for detox funded by Alberta Health Services. We have also gone from 8 to 38 beds out of 60 in our residential treatment. Previously people would have to wait a certain amount of time after detox until a bed was ready in the residential program. Now if patients are treatment ready, they don’t have to leave the facility. The recent donation has given us immediate sustainability. Now we can look at further development instead of just how we can keep the doors open.” Staff at Thorpe are currently focused on ensuring that they are delivering a high quality of care, and are looking at what they can do to utilize additional beds in the future. With there being a great need, their area stretches beyond Kitscoty, Vermilion, Wainwright, Bonnyville, and they continue to service all Albertans. For more info you can visit https://thorperecoverycentre.org/ or call 1-877-875-8890.