Officials in Simcoe and Muskoka are coming together to deal with a growing opioid issue.
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit hosted a meeting with the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN and the Simcoe Muskoka Alcohol and Other Drug Strategy group in Barrie on Thursday morning.
Injury and Substance Abuse Prevention Program Manager Janice Greco says over 80 people from these organizations and emergency services met to begin planning an opioid addiction and overdose prevention strategy.
Greco says emergency room visits related to opioid overdose have been gradually increasing for over a decade in the region.
According to a recent study released by Ontario Public Health, there were 206 opioid-related visits to hospital emergency rooms in the area in 2015.
There were also 43 opioid-related deaths reported in the region in 2015 as well.
Greco says with feedback from this meeting, the health unit will now build a drug strategy.
She didn’t have specific details on what that four-pillar strategy would involve yet, but she says the health unit hopes to have a public report ready before the end of the year.
The group will be meeting again in the summer to continue planning this drug strategy.