Health authority stands firm amid protests over closure of Downtown Eastside drop-in centre
Despite the pressure from ongoing rallies, Vancouver Coastal Health says it will not meet demands to re-open a drop-in health centre at Main and Hastings that closed earlier this month.
“We appreciate the concerns that are being expressed but it’s not going to change our minds,” Gavin Wilson, a health authority spokesperson, told the Straight today (May 18). “We knew it might not be a popular move, but we think it’s the right thing to do.”
Located in the Roosevelt Hotel, the Health Contact Centre, which opened in 2001, had been providing around 100 visitors a day with healthcare, referrals, washrooms, and other services.
Vancouver Coastal Health closed the centre suddenly on May 3, saying the facility was not meant to operate permanently and that its services were duplicated in the nearby area. But protesters have argued the centre offered vital late-night services that have not been replaced.
As part of the continued campaign, a rally and march are planned for Saturday at 4:30 p.m. starting near Columbia and Cordova.
“Right now the drive is coming from residents who want to keep going till the centre is open,” Harsha Walia, an activist who has been involved with the protests, told the Straight today.
Over the past two weeks, protests have repeatedly disrupted traffic near Main and Hastings during the afternoon rush hour.
“We’ve had quite a few motorists who’ve been angry, but we’ve had quite a few more who have been really understanding, who understand that health services are critical,” Walia said.
While no end to the actions is in sight, Vancouver Coastal Health stands by its decision.
“We note the concerns being raised in the community and we appreciate that they’re concerned about wanting to see the best possible healthcare provided in the Downtown Eastside,” Wilson said. “We all want to see that and that’s why we’ve opened up so many new services and facilities in the neighbourhood in recent years.”
Comments
2 Comments
$1 billion
May 19, 2010 at 5:20am
Over the last four years, $1 billion of our tax dollars have been poured into DTES services with no accountability or proof of effectiveness.
How many mental health or drug rehab beds away from downtown Vancouver could that buy? How many non-downtown Vancouver social housing units? How many job training or continuing education spots?
The problem isn't in continuously funding DTES facilities. The problem is in continuing to centralize social problems in the downtown core. This could be done more successfully by building social housing away from downtown and spreading services throughout the city.
But stopping taxpayers from getting back and forth to work isn't going to help your cause, regardless what dream world professional protesters live in.
Hannibal Smith
May 19, 2010 at 6:26pm
As a society, I don’t think we are not doing enough, for the less fortunate. A civilization is judged, by how it treats those, who can't care for themselves. At this very minute, thousand of people are homeless in BC. Their is no reason at all, for this to be the situation. While shelters do have a purpose and do save lives, they are not the answer. I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I do have first hand knowledge.
Dealing with homelessness is only the start. Helping people off the street will hopefully end people suffering and dying but, but will it deal with the causes in the first place? I would argue the causes of homelessness are similar to many other problems in this world we live in. To move towards a solution, you need to ask yourselves some questions. With all this technology for communication, are we becoming less human? What does it mean to be human in 2009? Where are we going as a people? What do you want? Last, who do you serve and who do you trust?
Solutions will not be found in Victoria or in Ottawa by the so-called leaders. We must look inside ourselves, to find the answers. Only when we work together and put aside our differences, will we live up to the true potential we have.