Opioid overdose-related visits at hospital emergency departments are up across the province and Bluewater Health is no exception.
Tuesday the provincial government announced a 76% increase in such emergency department visits in April, May and June from the same time period in 2016.
Vice President of Mental Health and Addictions Services Paula Reaume-Zimmer says exact figures are not available yet locally, however there has been an increase of opioid overdose-related visits.
"The most recent data that we have, our emergency department ranks approximately in the middle of the pack, 23 out of 49 sites," says Reaume-Zimmer. "So although our ranking isn't the highest ranking of our comparators, we're still very concerned about the presence of the crisis in our community."
Reaume-Zimmer says despite the large increase in the number of opioid related overdoses, alcohol still remains the predominant substance being abuse and causing higher health risks and concern.