Controversial overdose prevention site in downtown Vancouver relocated

New location of Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) in the laneway of Metson Rooms & Shelter at 1060 Howe Street. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

After three years, the Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site (OPS), more commonly informally referred to as the Yaletown OPS, has been relocated to a new nearby location in downtown Vancouver.

Previously found in the ground level of the City of Vancouver-owned social housing building at 1101 Seymour Street just to the east of the Granville Entertainment District (GED), as of yesterday, the OPS was relocated just to the west of the GED at 1060 Howe Street — about one block west of the previous controversial location, and two-and-a-half blocks south of Robson Square.

Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) new location of the OPS is just behind the Metson Rooms & Shelter building, within tents on the rooftop of the two-storey parkade fronting the laneway.

While the new OPS location is accessed from Howe Street, it does not have street frontage, unlike the previous location, which VHS states will provide “clients and residents increased privacy.”

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“VCH is committed to being a good neighbour, working with the City, other local partners and residents to ensure the smooth operation of these healthcare services. The new OPS will be supported by security, sidewalk management, litter and needle sweeps, and community outreach teams, in addition to other supports, to ensure the health and safety of the people it serves as well as people in the surrounding area,” reads a bulletin yesterday.

Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site OPS 1060 Howe Street Vancouver 1

Walking distance between the previous Thomas Donaghy Overdose (OPS) location at 1101 Seymour Street and the new location at Metson Rooms & Shelter at 1060 Howe Street. (Google Maps)

Previous OPS location at 1101 Seymour Street:

Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site Yaletown OPS f

Previous location of Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site (Yaletown OPS) at 1101 Seymour Street. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

New location for the OPS in tents on the parkade rooftop of the laneway of 1060 Howe Street:

Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site OPS 1060 Howe Street Vancouver

New location of Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) in the laneway of Metson Rooms & Shelter at 1060 Howe Street. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

VCH first opened the OPS location at 1101 Seymour Street in March 2021, with RainCity Housing as the operator.

When the previous makeup of Vancouver City Council approved the Seymour Street lease for the OPS in a City-owned building in October 2020, the proponents vowed to be accountable to the neighbourhood and address any issues that arise from the facility.

But there were numerous complaints from neighbours that public disorder, strewn garbage and needles, crime and public safety issues, and sidewalk encampments in the area stem from the facility’s existence, including impacts to neighbouring Emery Barnes Park and a childcare facility. The frequent issues have been well documented on social media.

These issues spurred a lawsuit against the municipal government, led by Wall Financial Corporation’s Bruno Wall. There was also an attempt to have the area’s residents and businesses, including the neighbouring hotels, join the legal action.

In July 2023, the municipal government confirmed it would not renew the Seymour Street lease for the OPS in its Seymour Street building, providing VCH and the operator with advance notice that a new location would be needed beyond March 2024.

In a statement yesterday following VCH’s announcement of the relocated site, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said the municipal government was not consulted on the new Howe Street location, before adding that “we appreciate VCH has to balance many factors when selecting locations for these health services.”

Sim also said the City is “disappointed that the new overdose prevention site proposed by Vancouver Coastal Health is not located at St. Paul’s Hospital, which we believed was the appropriate site.”

“We look forward to learning more from Vancouver Coastal Health about how they plan to operate this site in a way that provides these important services while mitigating impacts on Vancouver neighbourhoods like Yaletown,” continued the Mayor.

Through a freedom of information (FOI) request, the City recently released chains of email correspondence between City officials, councillors, operators, businesses, and residents pertaining to the issues with the OPS.

In a July 2023 email, City manager Paul Mochrie wrote, “As we understand, Providence Health Care is not amendable to re-establish this service on the St. Paul’s Hospital site.”

The Seymour Street site for the OPS was a relocation of the facility previously located at the Thurlow Street parking lot of St. Paul’s Hospital — until the fatal stabbing of a volunteer at the OPS in July 2020. St. Paul’s Hospital staff raised safety concerns with the on-site OPS location following the death of Thomus Donaghy. This OPS is formally named the Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site in memory of him.

ABC city councillor Peter Meiszner wrote in a July 2023 email that Raincity “does not have the resources or expertise to successfully manage the public realm outside the site [at Seymour Street], and [City] staff are meeting with them (Raincity) regularly, as well as Vancouver Coastal Health (co-operator), regarding the city’s and neighbourhood concerns over the management of the public realm.”

In another email that same month, Meiszner wrote, “I am continuing to hear from neighbours about the difficulties and disruption the operators’ poor management of the public realm is causing. Despite our increased resources around cleaning and security, it does not appear to be helping to improve things.”

In a June 2023 email, Mochrie wrote that the City acknowledges the apparent problems with the Seymour Street location of the OPS, and that “this situation continues to present real challenges for all parties involved and the identification of effective, practical solutions has been elusive.”

Another June 2023 email from a member of the public reads, “I see that on a regular basis, maybe twice weekly the area around the building is power washed, but it’s comical to watch, yes, I regularly go out to observe that these drug users don’t usually move to allow the cleaners to do their job, and when they do they gather across the back of my building and wait for the work to finish and quickly go back to erect their structures.”

Children and seniors living in the Seymour Street building’s social housing units — directly above the OPS — reported they felt “very unsafe” from the presence of tent structures and debris outside the facility, reads an email by City staff in May 2023. “We experience significant increasing risks if we do not attend to these [issues] readily. Currently, the occupants [of the structures] have been uncooperative with City staff when attending in person to assist in relocations. Vancouver Police Department’s non-emergency also made aware of the unsafe conditions.”

According to City staff, the accountability of the operations and conditions of the OPS site at Seymour Street falls under VCH, as the health authority is the funder of the facility.

In its bulletin yesterday announcing the new Howe Street location of the OPS, VCH states that ever since the Seymour Street location opened in March 2021, the facility experienced a 150% increase in the volume of average daily visits, reversed over 200 overdoses, and “connected countless people at risk of overdose to essential healthcare supports and services to improve people’s quality of life.”

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