New rehab centre to open

Photo: Michelle Jansen

Michelle Jansen with her son, Brandon, who passed away from a fentanyl overdose on March 7, 2016.

A mother who lost her son to fentanyl last year and became an advocate for addiction treatment has spearheaded the creation of a rehab centre in Penticton.

Michelle Jansen's son, Brandon, passed away on Mar. 7, 2016, two days before his 21st birthday, when he accidentally overdosed at the Sunshine Coast Treatment Centre in Powell River.

Shortly after her son's death, Michelle created the Brandon Jansen Foundation, with a mission to change the conversation about addictions, put pressure on governments and to ultimately open treatment centres.

The new Brandon Jansen Memorial Treatment Centre will open on Dec. 16 in Penticton, located on Juniper Drive in the southeast side of the city.

The centre will have six beds to start, but Michelle said more could be added in the future.

Michelle is based in Coquitlam and has no personal ties to Penticton, but said the city is far-removed from a bustling city and the location will provide "a sense of serenity and peacefulness" for recovering addicts.

She said the smaller rehab centre with customized treatment will give people the time to focus on their recovery.

"I just didn't feel that putting a recovery centre right in the heart of a city — with access to transportation right outside the door and the hustle and bustle — I've seen it with Brandon and that doesn't work."

Prior to his death, Michelle said she put Brandon in 12 different treatment centres, costing more than $250,000, but ultimately he couldn't get the treatment he needed.

A coroners inquest into Brandon's death gave 21 recommendations for the province to help prevent deaths like Brandon's.

"I had to fight to get him one-on-one counselling at least once a week, and to me that's so wrong," Michelle said. "These people are so sick, they need help, and they're going to die if they don't get the right treatment."

Michelle's youngest son, 19-year-old Nick, is also a recovering addict, who in the past was in and out of treatment centres and homeless on Vancouver's downtown Eastside.

"I unfortunately have become an expert on the matter... we're going to do it differently. We're going to do it the way it ought to have been done when Brandon was alive," Michelle said.

She said the centre in Penticton will be privately funded, but said the rehab centre won't be limited to only those who are able to afford costly treatment.

"We have partnered with some other charities, and so donations through them, and also the (Brandon Jansen) Foundation, will go to fund beds for those who can't afford it."

Michelle said she is pleased with the new NDP government's investment into addiction treatment — appointing a new Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and spending more than $300M for treatment and transition initiatives.

But she still feels an onus to make changes herself, and plans to eventually open centres across Canada and in parts of the United States in the future.

"I want the stigma to be lifted. Addiction is very much a disease, just like cancer, just like diabetes," Michelle said.

"And the stigma is what is keeping a lot of people who are sick with addiction from coming out and seeking help. And those people are ultimately dying... And that has to change."