A clinic has opened in Prince Albert to quickly provide access to addictions treatment services.
The Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine (RAAM) clinic is the first of its kind in Saskatchewan.
“There’s a multidisciplinary team that will accept you with whatever problem and connect you to other services,” Dr. Francois Rossouw, a physician at the RAAM clinic said. “You don’t need an appointment. We hope that this will give us an edge at dealing with problems early. They can look at everything from housing, to medical needs to social needs.”
The team includes addictions counsellors, physicians and nurses.
“The RAAM clinic provides substance use assessment, counselling and medical support,” Jennifer Suchorab, Saskatchewan Health Authority director of mental health and addictions services for the northeast region said. “We are extremely excited by what this service means for improving access to addictions services in our community. Thank you to the Government of Saskatchewan for their support of this initiative. A significant thank you must go to our team of physicians in Prince Albert who have demonstrated a commitment to supporting people with substance use disorder. We will work to provide services in a client-centered and strength-based manner.”
The clinic is located at 101-15th Street East.
“It’s open access to all communities and we’ve actually had people presenting at this RAAM clinic from out of province,” Rossouw said. “It’s not limited just to people in Prince Albert. Information is going out. I think this is the start of RAAM clinics and this service will be expanded to the rest of the province as well.”
Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine clinics are expected to open in Saskatoon and Regina in 2020.
The first three RAAM clinics in the province are opening with the help of $1.6 million from the provincial government.
RAAM clinics in Manitoba and Ontario have helped reduce wait times and decrease emergency department visits.
(Photo: Jennifer Suchorab, Saskatchewan Health Authority director of mental health and addictions services for the northeast region speaking at the launch of the RAAM clinic in Prince Albert. Photo by Brendan Mayer.)