Ministry of Long-Term Care

There is a tremendous fear about prescribing regular opiates, he added, while also highlighting the risks of abruptly taking people off opioids without adequate supports.

Gomes is calling for closer coordination between long-term care homes, and Ontario's Ministry of Long-Term Care to boost service capacity and beds in institutions that can adequately support people who use drugs, and more comprehensive training for workers in care facilities.

She added that family members, loved ones, friends, and personal support workers play an important role in paying attention to if an older adult is on a harmful trajectory with substance abuse.

This is a wake-up call to the fact that there is a large number of people who have developed opioid use disorders over decades who are now surviving this toxic drug supply, aging, and have complex care needs, Gomes said.

So what's been going on lately?

So with this opportunity, as we know, Ministry of Long-Term Care, they have this commitment with new beds, redevelopment.

We did have a few older homes and we did rebuild all of those.

So we had five projects that we completed so far.