Opioid related hospital visits in Waterloo Region are on the rise

The Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council says for first half of 2017 they saw a rise in visits to the emergency department for opioid related causes.

Michael Parkinson says in January 21 people had to visit our regions hospital for opioid related causes, in February it was 25, and in March is was 30.

Numbers released today by the government show that in April, May and June there were 1,898 such emergency department visits, a 76 per cent increase from the same time period last year.

Parkinson says in 2016, opioid related deaths grew across the province by 19 per cent. “In our region there is a strong suspicion that we are up significantly over 2016 in opioid overdose deaths, but the council won’t know that for sure until next year.”

Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced last month that Ontario will spend $280 million over three years to fight the opioid crisis.

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