Doctors involved in unsanctioned overdose prevention sites resign in protest
A group of Vancouver Island addiction medicine physicians set up an unsanctioned overdose prevention site to protest what they say is government inaction on plans for harm reduction services out front of the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, B.C., on Nov. 18, 2024.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
Two addiction medicine doctors involved in setting up temporary unsanctioned supervised drug use sites outside of Vancouver Island hospitals have resigned from leadership roles with Island Health, with one saying she was placed on leave as punishment for her public advocacy work.
The two doctors were part of a group that established the unsanctioned sites outside of hospitals in Victoria, Nanaimo and Courtenay for several days at a time since mid-November in protest of Island Health apparently backing away from plans to offer the service.
The resignations highlight a rift between approaches to drug policy, only a few months after a provincial election in which the issues of drug use and related disorder factored prominently. While the NDP government has backpedalled on several harm reduction measures, the doctors say much more is needed.
Jessica Wilder resigned on Wednesday from her positions as harm reduction and education physician lead at the health authority, and addiction medicine consult service physician lead at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
Two weeks earlier, she was placed on leave pending an investigation into concerns related to her public advocacy work but leadership “refused to provide concrete examples of their concerns when directly asked,” she said in a statement. She said she feels she is being punished for publicly advocating for life saving harm reduction services nearly a decade into a public health emergency that has killed thousands.
Kelsey Roden, South Island addiction medicine lead, also resigned Wednesday in solidarity with Dr. Wilder, telling The Globe that the health authority’s decision to place her on administrative leave reflects poorly on leadership. As well, she said she believes “physicians have stood silent for too long in advocating for people who use drugs.”
Island Health documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show that the health authority planned to open supervised drug use sites at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, Campbell River Hospital and Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital. Timelines included a September, 2023, directive by Island Health president and chief executive Kathy MacNeil to move forward with plans and proposed opening dates for spring and summer, 2024, before suddenly halting those plans in April “based on government direction.”
The NDP government had been facing backlash over its policy to decriminalize small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use, including from some nurses who said the pilot appeared to lead to a permissive approach to drug use within hospitals, endangering nurses.
The health minister at the time, Adrian Dix, said his government would create a task force to standardize rules and create “active supports” to help patients manage their addictions while in care. The task force had only begun discussing objectives when Premier David Eby announced that the province was significantly walking back the decriminalization pilot and would introduce a provincewide policy on illicit substance use in hospitals, with a zero-tolerance approach outside of designated supervised drug use sites.
In her resignation letter, dated Wednesday, Dr. Wilder accused leadership of attempting to dissuade doctors from public advocacy work with punitive measures and said it will have harmful consequences for the most at-risk patients. She said she worried that their actions would discourage other physicians from doing “what is right over what is easy.”
“In the current political climate, the patients who trust us with their care deserve bold leadership and decisive action – particularly amid our decade-long public health emergency,” Dr. Wilder wrote. “I can no longer support an organization that fails to demonstrate this commitment clearly and consistently through its actions.”
Island Health confirmed in an e-mail to The Globe that it received the resignation letters. It said Dr. Wilder was placed on administrative leave not as a punitive action, but so that she could “continue to be compensated while a fair investigation is underway.”
The health authority said it supports the ability of staff to advocate publicly, “while ensuring that personal positions are not confused with the position of Island Health, and that private information remains confidential.” It added that its major hospitals have expert addictions teams that work with patients to develop care plans that meet patient needs, protect staff and patient safety and align with provincial policies.
Asked about the demonstrations in January, Health Minister Josie Osborne said she had a productive discussion with the doctors behind the unsanctioned sites and that her government remains committed to supporting overdose prevention services but stopped short of saying her government would support more sanctioned sites on hospital grounds.
“We are working toward minimum standards so that we can ensure that overdose prevention sites near or on hospital sites are done in a way that is safe for patients, putting their care first and foremost, as well as for people and health care workers in facilities,” she said. “Once that work is completed, I’ll have more work to say on what will happen next.”