Detox program temporarily closed in La Ronge

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In the summer months, he said, they usually only see one to two clients use the residential program for the detox unit.

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“We were finding that, kind of, during the summer we were often down to one or two people at a time in the detox unit and so we kind of felt that although it does have an impact on the community it was more important to accommodate the medical clinic at this time,” he said.

In the meantime, the addictions staff will work with those who need detox by either supporting them in the community or referring them to an out of town detox facility.

The closest detox facility outside of La Ronge is in Prince Albert.

McLetchie said they’ve had ongoing discussions with other health regions in case they refer their clients out of town, which is something they did even before the fire.

A facility shutdown

It was May 15 when Dr. Veronica McKinney, director of Northern Medical Services, alongside staff, realized something wasn’t right at the La Ronge Medical Clinic.

“We did get a call from the fire department and in fact when everybody showed up in the morning, I think it was at 5 in the morning, the firemen were there and, in fact, we couldn’t get into the clinic until quite a bit later that day, so they could investigate what the cause is,” she explained.

The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but McKinney said she believes it was an electrical issue.

As for the damage, she said, it’s mostly smoke damage throughout the building, which has forced them to move into the La Ronge Health Centre while it gets cleaned up and sanitized.

“It just speaks to the wonderful collaboration and teamwork that has gone on between the health region and our clinic.  The health region has kind of relocated some of their staff so we could have quite a large area so that we could provide patient service,” she said, adding it’s not quite business as usual “but pretty darn close.”

The medical clinic was fully opened at the new location last Thursday.

Right now cleanup is underway, which could take to two to three months, but McKinney said so far everything is on track.

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