RNAO President NP Lhamo Dolkar and CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun wrote an op-ed in response to the closure of Toronto’s Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre due to a government funding cut. (Toronto Star, Nov. 19, 2025)

Another life-saving health service in Ontario is about to disappear – not because it failed, but because the government chose to end it. In a matter of days, the consumption and treatment services (CTS) site at Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre will be forced to close its doors. Staff at the Toronto-based site were told last month that funding would be cut and that operations must wind down within 30 days. It is a devastating decision at a time when this and 14 other sites across Ontario are needed most. Premier Doug Ford seems to think the opioid crisis no longer exists. He could not be more wrong.

Between March 2020 and May 2025, the Parkdale CTS recorded 18,454 visits, made more than 12,000 referrals to community services, and reversed 962 overdoses that could have been fatal. That means hundreds of parents, children, siblings and other loved ones are alive today because of this site. Demand for the Parkdale site rose by 63 per cent when other CTS sites were forced to close.

Read the full op-ed on RNAO's Instagram feed.