St. Boniface Hospital launches harm reduction supply vending machine

A harm reduction vending machine is now installed in a Winnipeg hospital.

A state-of-the-art vending machine filled with harm reduction supplies and healthcare essentials is the first of its kind to launch inside St. Boniface Hospital.

On Wednesday morning, staff from the hospital and research partners unveiled Our Healthbox, a “smart” vending machine providing free access to HIV self-tests, Naloxone kits, and more on display.

The machine is the 12th Our Healthbox released in the country and the first in a Canadian hospital setting.

As an acute care site, staff said people will come to the hospital to access safe injection kits and other harm reduction supplies. The machine is an opportunity to provide a service to a community that may have unmet needs.

“It’s particularly important because it hopefully will alleviate some of the concerns as to why people show up at emergency -if they’re looking for products or supports- that we have this available to them here,” said Katarina Lee-Ameduri, director of ethics at Réseau Compassion Network and a clinical ethicist at St. Boniface Hospital.

Lee-Ameduri said accessing the machine is a simple approach for people choosing the harm reduction products they want in a non-judgmental fashion.

“You can take products home for a loved one, and you’re not having to interact with a direct person, which may create anxiety or concerns about stigma,” Lee-Ameduri said.

“We have excellent workers within our community that have done a lot of effort to destigmatize, but this allows a little bit more privacy.”

She said discussions for the addition of this kind of machine had been in the works since 2023.

Dr. Sean Rourke has overseen the implementation of these machines through his work at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. He said the sophisticated level of technology implemented in the machine gives alerts to track inventory management of supplies.

It’s a design that can be a game changer for giving greater access to those needing support.

“I think for the hospital and for the agencies, it is the data in real time that will help understand the clients, the people that are being reached,” Rourke said.

“You know who they are. Give them a voice. You know what they need and how this is going to help them with where they are in their lives.”

The Our Healthbox machine is currently located on the ground floor of St. Boniface Hospital across from Robin’s Donuts and will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It is planned to be moved to the new emergency wing of the hospital once the wing opens in the near future.