Two doctors setting the standard for treating addictions have picked up another accolade.
Doctors Louisa Marion-Bellemare and Julie Samson were officially added to the Timmins Human Rights Wall of Fame today.
The annual honour is organized by Timmins Together and is awarded to people who have shown leadership in human rights, humanitarianism or anti-discrimination, inclusivity, and welcoming activities locally and beyond.
The duo has been leading the local response to the opioid crisis.
“We were both quite surprised when we got the nomination and got offered this. We just started doing this two years ago because we knew there was a problem and there’s still a lot of work to be done and we’re going to continue to do that. There’s still a lot of projects, still a lot of ideas to help this community and the most vulnerable people that are suffering from addictions. This is just the start of more things to come for us,” Samson said.
They're also delighted that so many people are supporting their work, Marion-Bellemare added.
"When we started we weren’t really sure how it was going to turn out and I think we’re just so thankful to have the support of the community, the hospital and the other agencies,” Bellemare said.
Their work quietly started in 2020.
The emergency room physicians noticed a substantial increase in the number of overdoses and have been working to address the issue ever since.
Related: Doctors' work to address opioid crisis earns national recognition
They've developed an addictions management team and advocated for detox beds at Timmins and District Hospital. A primary care clinic at Living Space has been created and they've started a virtual clinic for addictions management in Attawapiskat.
In the coming weeks, a safe injection site — Safe Health Site Timmins — is opening.
Known as an Urgent Public Health Needs Site, it's a temporary solution and would bridge the gap while work is done to establish a supervised consumption site, which could take two to three years to work through the approvals. Along with being a safe-injection site, people will be able to access treatment, social services and primary care.
See: Safe injection site location chosen for number of reasons
"People know they can come to us now at the shelter, at the hospital, at our new safe consumption site really soon. They can come any time and if they’re requesting help, we will be there to help them. That wasn’t the case before,” said Samson.
Both doctors are confident their efforts are making a difference.
“On the community level, I think people are happy that we have some solutions right now and we are helping people," said Bellemare.
In 2020, in the Porcupine Health Unit region there were 40 opioid-related deaths, with the rate being 46.9 deaths per 100,000 people.
“The stats for 2021 are about the same as for 2020. But having said that, they haven’t increased. We’ve been seeing exponential increases since 2017,” said Samson.
The full nomination for Marion-Bellemare and Samson was as follows:
Where to begin with these two amazing women?!
Being two front-line workers at the Emergency Department, these women saw firsthand the crisis that was plaguing our community.
They saw the same people coming back to the hospital time and time again to be treated for opioid addiction-related issues. They knew that something needed to change and these people could not continue to die in our city.
So what did they do? They took matters into their own hands and hit the streets.
Dr. Marion-Bellemare and Dr. Samson established a primary care clinic at Living Space to help alleviate the pressure on the emergency department. They started a virtual clinic for addictions management in Attawapiskat.
Both doctors have spent many hours educating and advising physicians in the community, hospital, and region to improve their knowledge and feel more comfortable treating patients with Suboxone for opioid use disorder.
These women walk the streets, speaking to residents and gaining their trust and providing their support. They pick up clients at their homes and bring them to treatments. They are out in the streets all hours of the day.
Both doctors presented to City of Timmins council on two occasions, to bring awareness about the opioid addiction facing our community and asking for support for their efforts.
Most recently, the doctors have organized a safe injection site, which will be opening in 2022. While this isn’t the solution to the problem, it is a starting point to have support and medical staff in place to help prevent overdose deaths in the city and hopefully get the people entering the facility into treatment to help with the addiction.
In January 2022, the Mayor’s office was contacted by a councillor in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. They heard about the work that the doctors were doing and wanted more information about their boots-on-the-ground approach.
After reaching out to the doctors to see if they would be available, they were quick to agree and educate others across the country to their strategy. The country is taking notice of these women and their plans to help those suffering from opioid addiction.
People are taking notice. CBC, The Globe and Mail, iHeartRadio to name a few. They also received the 2021 Award of Excellence from the Ontario College of Family Physicians.
Dr. Samson and Dr. Marion-Bellemare are the truest definition of selfless and hard-working. Many people turn a blind eye to those suffering from opioid addictions. However, these two amazing women see them as human beings suffering from a disease that is treatable. They have never turned their backs on those in need of help and have continued to find ways to help those in our community. They are advocating for change in policy and government funding for our community. They know what needs to be done short term and long term to provide services to those in our community. These women are an inspiration. Helping those in need is something we should all strive to do in our every day lives. They are a great example of seeing a problem and taking the steps to address and tackle the problem head-on. We should all learn from Dr. Samson and Dr. Marion-Bellemare.
