Nearly half of Calgary's detox beds still closed post-flood

Social workers in Calgary are concerned about the number of addicts and alcoholics who are not getting the help they need because of a lack of detox beds in the city.

Flooding in June forced the closure of Alpha House, one of only two places to provide detox services in Calgary.

The closure has cut the number of available beds nearly in half said Adam Melnyk, the outreach co-ordinator at Alpha House.

"In a city of over a million people we have around 100 detox beds, so to take almost half of those away is a crushing blow to the system."

Kari-Anne Shearer, who battles a crack addiction, has been able to sleep at Alpha House’s temporary home in the old science centre.

But she is not able to detox at the temporary facility.

"People aren't getting the help they need when they need it and until things get resolved at Alpha House, we're kind of in a bind," said Shearer.

Few options

Melnyk said the only other detox facility is Renfrew Recovery Detoxification Centre, but it is at capacity and turning people away daily.

"You have some people who are willing to try and try again to get into detox. But then there are those people that they'll go one time to get into the system, and if they don't get in then, they won't give it a try for quite a long time."

A spokesperson for Alberta Health Services says the department is trying to find a location for Alpha House to operate its detox centre until its building can be repaired.