Ottawa Inner City Health

Ottawa Inner City Health https://www.linktr.ee/ottawainnercityhealth

It's our 25th anniversary. For 25 years, OICH has pushed boundaries, challenged systems, and built bold, compassionate r...
04/02/2026

It's our 25th anniversary. For 25 years, OICH has pushed boundaries, challenged systems, and built bold, compassionate responses for people too often left out of care. We have never been afraid to try new ideas, speak up, or create solutions where none existed. That work is rooted in deep partnership and commitment to our community.

This year has been a difficult one. The loss of funding for our largest program, the Trailer, comes during an uncertain and shifting landscape for harm reduction. These challenges are strongly felt by our staff, partners, and the people we serve.

Still, this work has never been easy. OICH was created to respond when systems fall short, and we have always adapted to meet changing needs with care and creativity. That has not changed.

We are still here. We will continue to stand with our community, advocate boldly, and move forward with integrity, until our mission and vision are fully realized.

03/31/2026

At today’s media conference, CEO Rob Boyd urged community members to consider the impacts of province-wide CTS closures.

He shared that our 24/7 Site, The Trailer, responds to some of the highest overdose volumes in the province. In just one quarter in 2025, more than 500 people used the site for nearly 12,000 consumption visits. 77 overdoses happened on site and every one was managed safely by staff. During that same period, staff also responded to nearly 200 overdoses outside the CTS.

Since 2020, only a very small number of the overdoses handled by Trailer staff have required hospital transport, helping reduce ambulance calls and pressure on emergency departments.

The Trailer now sees between 600 and 1,000 visits each week, mostly from people who are unhoused and living in nearby shelters. This is in a neighbourhood where overdose risk and overdose deaths are already much higher than anywhere else in Ottawa.

Without CTS and active outreach, Rob warned that overdoses do not disappear. They happen in public spaces instead, and EMS, emergency departments, fire, police, and even libraries and parks are left to respond.

Happy World Theatre Day! 🎭Theatre plays an important role in the lives of many OICH staff members, offering opportunitie...
03/27/2026

Happy World Theatre Day! 🎭

Theatre plays an important role in the lives of many OICH staff members, offering opportunities for creativity, connection, and storytelling. We’re pleased to highlight a few colleagues who wanted to share!

03/26/2026

What happens when we stop asking people to fit into systems and start bringing care to where they are?

At the AMHO (Addictions and Mental Health Ontario) Conference on March 25, Tabitha Morris of Ottawa Inner City Health and Zach Rhoads of the Life Process Program (LPP) shared Ottawa Inner City Health’s peer recovery coaching model, a community‑based, peer‑led approach supporting people experiencing homelessness and substance use.

In this clip, Tabitha explains how the model offers a flexible, treatment‑on‑demand option that meets people where they are, with no fixed timelines and support for a wide range of recovery goals.
Our consumption and treatment service (CTS), The Trailer, has been a key access point for connecting people to this model. With impending CTS closures across the province, this conversation highlights the importance of maintaining accessible pathways into care.

Early results are promising, and we were grateful to share this work with the broader community.

Last night, Ottawa Inner City Health CEO Rob Boyd, Program and Case Management Team Lead Tabitha Morris, and Project Coo...
03/25/2026

Last night, Ottawa Inner City Health CEO Rob Boyd, Program and Case Management Team Lead Tabitha Morris, and Project Coordinator Emily Hill attended The Walrus Talks Opioids in Toronto. It was a compelling evening and an important conversation that brought together diverse perspectives to explore solutions to the opioid crisis!

Yesterday was World Poetry Day, and with consent, our hospice client Anne Johnson shared this beautiful poem "Blind Rage...
03/24/2026

Yesterday was World Poetry Day, and with consent, our hospice client Anne Johnson shared this beautiful poem "Blind Rage". It speaks to profound isolation, displacement, and endurance, an experience many of our clients know deeply. Thank you, Anne, for allowing us to share your powerful words.

03/23/2026

The Ontario government has announced it will cut funding to all remaining supervised consumption sites by June 13, 2026, after many were already forced to close in 2025. Early signs from these previous closures are worrying.

In the nine months before sites shut down in March 2025, emergency room visits for opioid overdoses dropped by 47%. After the closures, that progress reversed, with visits rising by 67%. While this is still early data, it raises concerns that shutting down the remaining sites will mean more people will end up in emergency departments, adding pressure to an already strained health care system and leading to longer wait times.

🍀 St. Paddy’s Day smiles at The Ottawa Mission Diane Morrison Hospice! 🍀Our client Diane had a wonderful time celebratin...
03/20/2026

🍀 St. Paddy’s Day smiles at The Ottawa Mission Diane Morrison Hospice! 🍀

Our client Diane had a wonderful time celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, and we wanted to share a little of that joy with you. We hope it brightens your day as much as it brightened ours!

Le directeur général, Rob Boyd, ainsi que la directrice des services cliniques, Louise Beaudoin, ont parlé avec l’ONFR a...
03/19/2026

Le directeur général, Rob Boyd, ainsi que la directrice des services cliniques, Louise Beaudoin, ont parlé avec l’ONFR au sujet de la fermeture planifiée des sites de consommation. Ces derniers avertissent que ces fermetures causeront une augmentation des surdoses, de la consommation publique de drogues ainsi qu’une pression accrue sur les services d’urgence.

đź”— https://onfr.tfo.org/la-fin-annoncee-des-sites-de-consommation-supervisee-souleve-de-fortes-craintes-en-ontario/

Le directeur général, Rob Boyd, ainsi que la directrice des services cliniques, Louise Beaudoin, ont parlé avec l’ONFR a...
03/19/2026

Le directeur général, Rob Boyd, ainsi que la directrice des services cliniques, Louise Beaudoin, ont parlé avec l’ONFR au sujet de la fermeture planifiée des sites de consommation. Ces derniers avertissent que ces fermetures causeront une augmentation des surdoses, de la consommation publique de drogues ainsi qu’une pression accrue sur les services d’urgence.

🔍 https://onfr.tfo.org/la-fin-annoncee-des-sites-de-consommation-supervisee-souleve-de-fortes-craintes-en-ontario/

Our CEO Rob Boyd, as well as Dean Dewar of Sandy Hill Community Health Centre appeared on CBC news yesterday. They spoke...
03/18/2026

Our CEO Rob Boyd, as well as Dean Dewar of Sandy Hill Community Health Centre appeared on CBC news yesterday. They spoke of how Ontario’s decision to cut funding for Ottawa’s last supervised consumption sites will likely increase public drug use and community impacts as services shut down and users are displaced.

Check out the article and video here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/supervised-consumption-closed-ontario-hart-hub-9.7130869

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550 Old St. Patrick Street
Ottawa, ON
K1N5L5

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