An Indigenous-operated resort on Quadra Island is being turned into a mental-health and addictions treatment facility.
The We Wai Kai Nation, based in Campbell River, is working with the provincial government to convert its Tsa-kwa-luten resort into the Tsakwa’lutan Healing Centre (pronounced Saw-Kwa-Lootan).
The facility will have 40 adult-treatment beds, half of which are expected to be open by this fall.
Thirty-two of the beds will be provided without fees.
At the centre, healing and recovery will be “grounded in cultural heritage and respect,” said Chief Ronnie Chickite.
The facility will serve both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, Chickite said.
First Nations people in B.C. are six times more likely than others to die from toxic-drug poisoning.
The province is providing about $7.9 million to create two wings with client rooms at the lodge, repair the roof and upgrade electrical systems.
The facility will provide single- and double-occupancy rooms with private bathrooms, personalized treatment plans, counselling rooms, clinical rooms and a cultural-programs room.
The First Nations Health Authority and Island Health Authority will support the centre’s operations.
“Given that there are many pathways into addiction, we need to be there to provide just as many pathways for people to recover,” said Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside.
The centre will take a holistic approach to addiction recovery that is rooted in traditional Indigenous knowledge, the province said.
First Nations Health Authority director Celeta Cook said the centre will use both Western and First Nations approaches to healing, while North Island MLA Michele Babchuk said it will give area residents more treatment options close to home.
The province has provided $35 million in funding for the replacement or completion of eight other First Nations treatment centres in B.C.
In the Port Hardy region, the 1,100-member Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations and nearby Kwakiutl and Quatsino First Nations declared a state of emergency in March after 11 Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw members — many of them youths — died over two months from toxic drugs, alcohol and mental-health challenges.
Island Health responded by funding the creation of a community crisis line for the three First Nations and providing outreach workers for on-call shifts evening, overnight and on weekends.
