Timeline unclear, details still slim on new homelessness addiction treatment hub in Windsor

One of the lead organizations on Windsor's new Homelessness Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub services says "there hasn't been much movement" on the project, but the province says it will be operational in less than two weeks. 

At the end of January, Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones announced that Windsor would get a HART hub — a bundle of services including new treatment beds, transitional housing and stabilization beds to give people a place to stay as they move into the next phase of their recovery. 

In an interview, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH), a lead agency on the project, told CBC News at the time that an agreement hadn't been finalized and it didn't have many details. But, HDGH CEO Bill Marra had said they intended to finish planning the project before March 31, in time to begin a phased roll-out on April 1. 

And when asked for an update this week, a spokesperson for HDGH told CBC News that "with the timing of the announcement and the election, there hasn't been much movement." 

"We continue to await further details from the government and to date, we have received funding confirmation letter. With that said, planning and discussions have been ongoing with partners," reads an emailed statement. 

They added that they're not able to make the details of the letter public at this time.

Yet the province seems to have a different understanding. 

In an email Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said, "all sites will be operational as of April 1." 

They continued to say that "The Ministry is continuing to work with all 27 HART Hubs on their multi-year operational budgets." 

The province hasn't yet responded to a question about what services Windsor-Essex can expect to have available by the beginning of April. 

At least one HART hub in the province, in Guelph, has confirmed that it won't be open in time because of funding delays.

What will Windsor's hub services include?

On the provincial government's website, it says that the proposed services for Windsor's HART hub include: 

• Primary care. 
• Mental health and addictions services including assessment, care coordination withdrawal management. 
• Peer support. 
• Mental health and addictions supportive housing. 
• Services to meet basic needs. 

The website notes that the "primary objective" of the local HART hub is to "divert repeated/inappropriate emergency department visits by providing individuals with more immediate access to help and efficiently using local community resources." 

Based on previous conversations with HDGH's Marra, these services will be spread across existing organizations. 

HDGH did not confirm with CBC how much funding it has been approved for, though it previously said it asked to receive $18 million dollars over three years. 

The provincial government had initially announced the HART hub concept in August 2024, after it decided that it would be closing multiple drug consumption and treatment sites. 

That meant that Windsor's site, SafePoint, which was awaiting provincial funding, was permanently closed.