As many community partners and agencies came together to address the opioid situation in our community, two local service providers investigated the option of housing an overdose prevention site in the City of Windsor’s downtown area. This initial work highlighted the need for a comprehensive community engagement strategy regarding supervised injection sites in our community.
Following the lead of other communities in Ontario and using a similar survey tool, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) embarked on engaging the community in this process and in late October 2018 an online survey was launched to learn the opinions and concerns of local residents. In addition, focus groups and key stakeholder interviews were conducted to determine the feasibility and support of a supervised injection site. The online survey closed mid-December 2018. Outstanding work, including interviews with those who could potentially access the facility, as well as data analysis of the results would continue into 2019.