Bluewater Health has come up with a new plan for its emergency departments to help fight Ontario's opioid crisis.
Sarnia ED Director Dr. Renato Pasqualucci says every day, two or three people show up at the emergency department, asking for a refill of their pain medication.
They will now be given up to three days of pain medication and told to contact their doctor. If they do not have a personal physician, they will be set up with a primary care provider.
"We will give people in chronic pain what they need in the short term," says Dr. Pasqualucci. "We will get them back to their primary health care provider for the long term, and if they do not have a doctor, we will connect them to a private care provider who can see them quickly. We want to improve their quality of life by improving their pain management."
The patient is told to follow up with their doctor in the next few days and if they return to the ED in the future without doing so, they will not be given another prescription. The emergency doctor will also be in contact with the patient's physician.
A health quality report released earlier this year found that one in five residents in Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent and Windsor-Essex filled an opioid prescription in the past two years and that's the highest rate in the province.
There were at least 800 opioid overdoses in Ontario last year.