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These are among the questions that help staff decide who stays and who goes, with their medical needs taking top priority. The wait to find out who made the cut — sometimes all are admitted — can be several hours.

“There are some really sad faces,” says a mother who has taken her son to Renfrew five times, two of which he was admitted. “Most of these people will not look anybody in the eye. There is so much shame around addiction.”

Dianne Johns, manager of Renfrew detox, says two to 24 people show up in the waiting room every day, but she declined to estimate how many are turned away, explaining that it varies.

“Our ideal is to match the service with those vulnerable clients and get them in at the time they need to be there,” Johns says. “Not everyone that comes through the door is appropriate for this service.”

Some are turned away because they don’t have their medications; others are suicidal and must be assessed elsewhere. Some are considered by staff not to be sufficiently committed to shaking their addiction.

“This is a voluntary service so clients need to want to be here,” Johns says, adding that staff try to help patients they turn away find counselling or other support.

“A lot of families will bring a loved one, whomever that might be, because they really want them to get help. But if the individual who is presenting for admission isn’t in that place yet, and the motivation’s not there, it’s not going to work for them.”

Photo by Colleen De Neve / Calgary Herald

Once patients are admitted, they are moved to an observation area, where staff keep a close eye on them, during severe stages of withdrawal, through large windows next to the nursing station.