Doctors on Vancouver Island say theyB次元官网网址檙e setting up unsanctioned overdose prevention sites on the grounds of Nanaimo General and Victoria's Royal Jubilee hospitals this week because the B.C. government hasnB次元官网网址檛 lived up to its promise to set aside space for the sites.

Dr. Jess Wilder, an addictions and family medicine practitioner in Nanaimo, says her work has been mired in B次元官网网址渃ontroversy and politicizationB次元官网网址� lately, and setting up overdose prevention sites is B次元官网网址渁bout saving lives.B次元官网网址�

Wilder says the B.C. government pledged to open sites at every hospital in the province back in April, but those never materialized and she and other health care professionals have put up their own funds and time to run the B次元官网网址減op-upB次元官网网址� sites throughout the week.

She says the country is in the middle of the biggest public health crisis its ever seen, and the B.C. government has had a ministerial order that dictates that B次元官网网址渙verdose prevention sites can and should, and must be set up in any place where they are needed.B次元官网网址�

Wilder says seeing patients needlessly die has caused doctors much B次元官网网址渕oral distress,B次元官网网址� while politicians have seized upon addictions services with harmful narratives and expert voices like hers have been sidelined.

Wilder says a candidate in the last provincial election posted a TikTok video opposing a harm reduction vending machine at a hospital, and it was removed days later.

B次元官网网址淲e have been fighting for interventions like that, for such a simple thing as a machine that can give somebody a condom or a clean needle, if theyB次元官网网址檙e going to do the harmful thing anyway,B次元官网网址� Wilder said.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been fighting for that for years and the fact that somebody who has no medical expertise can post a video on social media and have that be more impactful on the services that IB次元官网网址檓 able to provide my patients than anything that IB次元官网网址檝e been doing for years is pretty devastating.B次元官网网址�

Dr. Ryan Herriot, who practices both family and addictions medicine in Victoria, said theyB次元官网网址檙e setting up the sites on the day the new B.C. government is being sworn-in, and when welfare recipients get their cheques.

Herriot said the day people get their cheques B次元官网网址渋s the most lethal day every month,B次元官网网址� for drug users, and he said dissatisfaction among people in his field has been B次元官网网址減ercolating slowly.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淎 decision was taken that, you know, we need to put our voices in the public sphere,B次元官网网址� Herriot said. B次元官网网址淚 think whatB次元官网网址檚 happened over the last couple of years is experts have been reticent to speak out, to kind of step out of their clinical role and that has allowed non-experts to fill that void unfortunately.B次元官网网址�

The sites are being set up at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria and Nanaimo General Hospital, and Herriot, Wilder and others plan to run them all through this week.