An announcement on a local withdrawal management centre is imminent.
Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network CEO Ralph Ganter shared the news with Lambton County Council during its regular meeting in Wyoming Wednesday.
However, he said he couldn't disclose further information at this time.
"We expect that there will be an announcement next week," said Ganter. "We just didn't want to take anything away from Bluewater Health because they did all of the work behind the withdrawal management. So, we're asking people to wait until next week because it shouldn't be me giving the announcement. It's more the hospital and the Ministry [of Health]."
Ganter hints that significant movement is expected once the announcement is made.
"Pending the announcement, we can really aggressively get into the detailed planning," he said.
Ganter said the local opioid crisis weighs heavily on his mind.
"We want to see if there is anything we can do, earlier, in withdrawal management," he said. "For example, can beds be opened up in any kind of open capacity. It's one of the things I've thought through and we'll see if there's anything we can do as were waiting for this type of facility."
The proposed $10-million centre would provide ten residential, six stabilization and eight observation beds, addictions counselling and day treatment.