Family who lost son to overdose donates $20M to new addictions treatment facility | Daily Hive

Vancouver family who lost son to overdose donates $20M to St. Paul's Hospital's addictions treatment facility

St. Paul's Hospital on Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver. (Adam Melnyk/Shutterstock)

The family of Steven Diamond has made a historic private donation towards combatting the opioid addiction crisis in British Columbia.

The Diamond Foundation has gifted $20 million to the St. Paul’s Foundation towards the brand-new Road to Recovery program at St. Paul’s Hospital. The provincial government has also provided $61 million towards the program’s operating costs.

This program is billed as a first-in-Canada model of care by providing the full spectrum of addictions treatment services all in one location. At the program’s full buildout, it will house 95 beds for a seamless transition between all stages of recovery, with the first beds set to open in Fall 2023.

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Patients will go through programs such as Rapid Access Addiction Clinic through withdrawal management, in-patient recovery-focused beds, transitional housing, and outpatient treatment.

The family foundation’s donation memorializes the loss of Steven Diamond, an addictions counsellor who died from a fentanyl overdose at the age of 53 in 2016. He died a week before a scheduled appointment to see an addictions psychiatrist after waiting for nearly three months to see a specialist for treatment.

“This tragedy clearly shows our health care system was not and is not up to the task,” said Jill Diamond, the sister of Steven and the executive director of the Diamond Foundation, in a statement.

“Steven was a well sought-after addictions counsellor with expertise in the field and family means to pay for recovery. The fact that even he couldn’t get well, despite giving his entire life’s effort, shows addiction is a disease that must be looked at medically with new models of care.”

Dr. Seonaid Nolan, the director of the physician program for Providence Health Care’s Addiction Program and a clinical scientist with the BC Centre on Substance Use, added: “Addiction medicine clinicians like myself know that being able to refer someone to the appropriate service and then provide follow-up care is integral to supporting their wellness, but is rarely an option.”

Last year, the Diamond Foundation also made a $25 million donation towards the project of building a new Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver in the Oakridge area.

The Diamond family is known for West Coast Reduction, which has expanded in BC since they opened the first rendering plant and storage facilities on Vancouver’s waterfront in the 1960s.

According to St. Paul’s Foundation, a key factor driving BC’s addictions crisis is the major gaps to connect prevention, treatment, and recovery, which means people are unable to access the supports they need in their communities in a timely manner.

In recent months, questions have also been raised about BC’s over-reliance on harm reduction and safer supply strategy and its effectiveness.

St. Paul’s Hospital is scheduled to vacate its existing Burrard Street location in the West End of downtown Vancouver and relocate to the False Creek Flats in 2027, when its new hospital campus reaches completion.

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