Sask. adds virtual outpatient spaces to addictions treatment capacity

Saskatchewan is adding to its addictions treatment capacity, with 36 virtual outpatient treatment spaces coming online this spring.

The spaces are being offered through EHN Canada.

“EHN Canada is a national leader in addictions treatment, and we are pleased to work with them to provide treatment options for Saskatchewan residents,” Everett Hindley, Saskatchewan’s minister of mental health and addictions, said in a release Monday.

“The 36 virtual treatment spaces will provide greater accessibility across the province, including rural and northern Saskatchewan, reflecting the importance of meeting people where they’re at in their journey to recovery.”

According to the government, virtual outpatient treatment helps people who have other responsibilities to manage — things such as work, school and family — while they’re also receiving treatment.

The government noted participants go through at least nine hours per week of structured treatment activities, including virtual group and individual counselling sessions. The eight weeks of intensive virtual treatment are followed by 10 months of aftercare.

The province said it’s committed to adding at least 150 more addictions treatment spaces. So far, 50 have been added, with the 36 virtual spaces announced Monday following the 14 post-treatment spaces announced in March for the St. Joseph’s Addiction Recovery Centre in Estevan.

Those 50 spaces are in addition to the 475 existing pre-treatment, detoxification, treatment and post-treatment beds across the province that are operated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority and third-party partners.