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VANCOUVER – Health officials will offer around the clock service on certain days at Vancouver’s safe injection site in response to the city’s overdose crisis.

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority said Friday it is launching a pilot project to keep Insite open 24 hours a day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the weeks that social assistance cheques are distributed.

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The project will begin Aug. 24-26, and continue for up to six months. At that time, health officials will evaluate whether the extended hours are having any effect.

Dr. Ron Joe, associate medical director of substance use services at Vancouver Coastal, says they are seeing a “dramatic increase” in the number of people overdosing at Insite and at hospital emergency departments during welfare cheque week.

From January to May, health officials saw an 80 per cent increase in emergency department visits for opioid-related overdoses during welfare cheque distribution week, compared to the previous week, according to VCH.