Whistleblowers sound alarm over Lumsden treatment centre delays, Sask. NDP calls for investigation

WATCH: The provincial NDP is calling for an investigation into opening delays at an addictions treatment centre in Lumsden. Donovan Maess reports.

Former employees at the Willowview Recovery Centre are sounding the alarm over opening delays at the facility as the province faces an on-going addictions crisis.

The 60-bed treatment facility was first announced by the Government of Saskatchewan in January last year to open in the spring of 2024.

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The former senior admissions coordinator at the centre says she never admitted a single patient to in-patient or out-patient treatment before she quit her position last fall.

“My passion is helping others,” Mandy Challis told reporters Thursday. “I was really excited that a new treatment centre was coming to Saskatchewan. It was very much in need.”

“I was immediately concerned with the admissions. We had no opening date and we were building this [waiting] list,” she added.

The facility, operated by B.C. company EHN Canada, was to offer a 16-week in-patient treatment program.

Challis worked at the centre from May to October 2024. Her job was to take calls from those wishing to access care and screen them for eligibility.

When she left, she said the waitlist had reached over 200 people.

“If four, 60-bed treatment centres opened tomorrow in Saskatchewan, they would be immediately filled,” Challis said. “[This facility] has had a year of money being put into staffing with no clients when there are [local] organizations begging for donations.”

Reason for Delay

In November, the Saskatchewan NDP first raised concerns about the facility not being fully operational.

At the time, the government said delays in renovations made the space unusable for overnight treatment. On Nov. 28, Minister of Addictions and Mental Health Lori Carr called the delays unfortunate.

“But [the beds] will be open soon,” she added that day.

In response to the delays, EHN did open 30 out-patient spaces to allow some patients the ability to access treatment.

Trevor Cyr, a recovering addict himself, was an addictions support person at Willowview until he also quit last fall.

He echoed Challis’ concerns about the lack of in-patient beds available.

“I understand the impacts of addiction and the importance of treatment centers,” Cyr said. “If we had opened the day they said, there’s no way that facility would have been in proper running order.”

Social worker Rob Kraushar says she does not recommend addicts wishing to access care to Willowview with its current treatment model.

“I work with other organizations. We all come together to see what works best for people and what we can manage for them,” he explained.

Kraushar highlighted the growing crisis in the province.

“Sixty beds is a lot,” he said. “But it’s not enough. It’s a start but zero beds is not enough either.”

Calls for Investigation

At a press conference Thursday, the NDP called for an investigation into why the treatment centre remains not fully operational.

“What was already spent. What was invested?” asked NDP MLA Betty Nippi-Albright. “What was the proposal actually for? Like what did EHN want to do?”

The NDP shadow minister for mental health and addictions says the party has filed multiple freedom of information (FOI) requests with the government to get answers.

“The government can say, ‘This is how we’ve wasted taxpayer dollars in this province,” Nippi-Albright said. “There are people dying out there and [they] failed to take care of the most vulnerable and the ones seeking inpatient treatment.”

In a statement to CTV News, Carr said renovations continue to ensure the building is safe for patients.

“While renovations are undertaken, EHN is providing intensive day treatment services while they transition into overnight occupancy,” the statement went on to say.

The government added it will bring forward an update on those renovations “in the coming days.”