After more than 17 years sheltering locals with mental health and addiction challenges, Iris Place is closing its doors permanently in October, leaving employees worried potential clients have nowhere to go.
"Now if [an addictions or mental health patient] has to leave Squamish General Hospital or Lions Gate Hospital, they've got nowhere to go anymore," said an Iris Place employee who wished to remain anonymous out of fear for her job.
The downtown Squamish residence has six beds to accommodate people with mental health and addiction challenges, and according to a spokesperson for the funding organization Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), it's being shut down because it's been under utilized since 2003.
The $540,000 used to fund the centre each year will be better spent elsewhere, said VCH's Anna Marie D'Angelo, although not necessarily in Squamish.
"There's no guarantee all the $540,000 will be spent in Squamish, but it will all be spent on mental health and addiction challenges," she said.
The five-year Iris Place employee disputed the basis for the centre's closing, saying the place is almost always full and has been for the past five years.
"There's always been a high volume of people coming through, and recently Vancouver Coastal Health has been turning people away," she said.
D'Angelo said that is "flat-out incorrect."
"Our utilization rates are very clear that this facility is under-utilized and that's why we're moving towards closing it."
A detailed report on the occupancy of Iris Place is not publicly available, said D'Angelo. VCH has 30 business days to respond to The Chief's freedom of information request.
In the meantime, D'Angelo said occupancy rarely surpasses 60 per cent utilization, and is usually at about 20 per cent, and in 2009, the place was never full.
There are currently three people living at Iris Place, said D'Angelo, and one is returning to the North Shore in two weeks while the other two have made other arrangements.
She also said an addictions and mental health shelter in Valleycliffe with three beds is well used and won't be shut down.
The centre in Valleycliffe, however, is an independent living situation, which has left the Iris Place employee wondering what would happen to those who can't handle independent living.
"[Iris Place] is a psycho social rehab home and the other one isn't. We get people coming straight from the psychiatric ward at the hospital, people that need a bit of respite," she said.
She said the majority of Iris Place residents want their own homes and Iris Place workers help them find homes when ready, but "some of them are actually not allowed to leave here because they're certified by the psychiatric people in North Vancouver to be supervised."
"They're giving people fill money to go out on their own with more than just a lousy welfare cheque, but the problem is, can these people really function on their own? And the answer is no, they can't, that's why they're here."
The funding freed up by the centre's closing will also move toward more independent situations, according to D'Angelo.
"We're going to re-allocate the resources to other mental health and addiction programs specifically independent living and a semi-independent living allowances for people that want less structured living arrangements," she said.
VCH is also trying to find work for the four full-time employees and one part-time employee working at Iris Place. However, the 12 casual employees who don't have set hours will not be compensated.
"It's impacting five unionized positions so obviously there's going to be labour adjustments but certainly we like to redeploy the staff in other areas," she said. "We're looking at that [giving all five new positions] but it hasn't been confirmed."
D'Angelo said VCH is also introducing an addictions and mental health outreach officer to the area.
The announcement comes one year after Sea to Sky Community Services lost funding for its addictions youth outreach worker.
The new outreach worker will visit people living on their own to ensure they're handling an independent lifestyle competently and safely.
