Article content continued

Premier John Horgan agreed that more than 11 extra beds are needed to deal with the escalating opioid crisis in the province, but said more beds would have caused delays in opening. He added that the government may expand the centre at the Riverview site in future.

Horgan says the $101-million centre will create “a new beginning” for wellness and healing at the Riverview lands. Horgan was joined Friday morning by Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy and Housing Minister Selina Robinson, as well as First Nations members, at the site of the now-closed Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam.

“People afflicted by mental illness and addiction need better support and care. We’re getting to work to fix the problems and give people the help they need,” said Horgan. “Today’s ground-breaking is an important step toward improving mental-health and addictions-treatment services in British Columbia.”

Darcy said the “state of the art facility” will focus on the enormous challenge of treating those who are struggling with mental-health addiction. She said the government’s focus is to tackle B.C.’s opioid crisis.

“There is an opportunity for the Riverview site to become a hub for patients, families, health-care workers, researchers and the local community to come together to address mental-health and substance-use challenges,” she said.

The NDP’s announcement Friday follows on the former Liberal government’s plan in 2015 to invest $175 million to revamp the Riverview lands into a mixed-use community hub for mental-health care. The plan involved constructing two new buildings on the 244-acre site and relocating three mental-health and substance-abuse programs from Burnaby.