N.L.'s newest addictions treatment centre could open as soon as July

Newfoundland and Labrador's newest addictions treatment centre could open as soon as July, with the leaders behind it saying they want to help as many people as possible while acknowledging that one-size can't fit all.

Ryan Kirby, co-founder of Vida Nova Recovery located off Newfoundland's Salmonier Line in Holyrood, says they're talking with the provincial government's Department of Health and Community Services to work out a contract to allow them to accept anyone registered under the MCP program.

He hopes that can be in place by when they plan to open in mid-July.

"The hope is to be able to accept everyone," Kirby told CBC Radio's The Signal.

"That is the goal, the ultimate goal, and that's what we want to happen."

Vida Nova is the partnership of Kirby and Mark Lane. The pair put $1.1 million of their own money — including their homes as collateral — in February to see the creation of a centre that can initially open 54 care beds forward.

Kirby has been open about his own struggles, going through rehab but not finding successes. He says it has put the centre top of mind for him.

Kirby, along with medical director Dr. Anthony Parrell, say they want to help people through what they see as a small window of time for treatment.

"In my training, I was taught that, unfortunately, addiction is characterized by relapse. So I want, with this team, to be able to catch people in those hard situations. To hopefully prevent those things down the line and meet them where they are," Parrell said.

Kirby added Vida Nova might be able to cut down treatment wait times.

"Having the detox wing in our facility, [it] gives us the ability to take someone right from the street into our building," he said.

Melissa Wells, the centre's managing director, says she's been fielding calls and messages from people seeking services every day. She hopes the space, and the influx of additional resources, will help people avoiding care due to long wait lists to gain the ability to get what they need.

She and Kirby believe their model to be scalable, and hope their work in Holyrood can show addiction care can succeed in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

"We're trying to track where our money is going so that we can show that something like this is very viable in another part of the province," Kirby said.

"All the money we inject into Holyrood, we can show that we can do this in Grand Falls or we could do this in Corner Brook."

Linda Bell, the former CEO of Bellwood Health Services Inc. in Toronto, has been working with the team.

She told CBC News she believes in their model that prioritizes person-centric care that stays with them after initial steps.

"You're not going to be looking at treating addiction and being successful if you're only treating them for a month. You need to have the support network, and that's what I like about Vida Nova. That they have thought about that right from the beginning," Bell said.

"The key is to have a network of services that can help and come together open, barrier free. So we're [not] just referring to an outside counsellor or referring to a detox, we are facilitating that process. We start wherever the person shows up."

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