The Kimberley Harm Reduction Collaborative will host a wellness clinic on Friday, Aug. 30 from 1 – 3 p.m. at the Kimberley Library. All services are free and confidential.
The Friday clinic will provide harm reduction information and supplies, as well as acknowledge International Overdose Awareness Day.
The harm reduction collaborative is a group of people, including ANKORS and Interior Health staff and people with lived experience with substance use– all with an overarching goal to make Kimberley safer.
In response to the public health emergency declared in April 2016 related to overdose deaths, health care providers distribute and train people on how to use Take Home Naloxone kits.
In addition to this, harm reduction supplies, emergency contraceptives (Plan B), sexual health information, mental health and substance use referrals and access to current immunization information are available both at the clinic and at the Kimberley Health Centre.
“We are hopeful that the new clinic location will encourage more people to access harm reduction supplies and health information,” says Health Outreach Nurse Alison Ko.
The wellness clinics will continue at the library on the first and last Friday of each month from 1-3 p.m.
Interior Health representatives on the collaborative include mental health and substance use clinicians, regional harm reduction coordinator, health outreach and public health nurses.