A Vancouver overdose prevention site has closed less than two years after it moved from its previous location, raising concerns among health officials and harm reduction advocates as the province sees record number of overdose calls to emergency services.

The Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site, located at 1060 Howe St., shut its doors Saturday, according to Vancouver Coastal Health.

The health authority says the owner of the building, Prima Properties, notified them to leave the property by the end of January after hearing a number of complaints from nearby residents.

CBC News reached out to the building’s owner to understand the scope and nature of the complaints but did not hear back by deadline. 

Dr. Patricia Daly, VCH’s chief medical health officer said the health authority took steps to address neighbourhood concerns, including hiring security, conducting needle sweeps, and placing staff on the sidewalk to prevent disorder.

“I myself frequently went down and observed that things seemed to be operating as they should,” Daly said.

The Howe Street location opened after the site was moved from Seymour Street in Yaletown in April 2024 following public safety concerns and backlash from nearby residents.

“It was actually a very good location, not visible to people on the street,” Daly said. 

It was the only one of its kind in what VCH calls the Vancouver City Centre area, which includes most of downtown, the West End and Fairview.

“That neighbourhood has the second highest rate of overdose deaths in our region, and the third highest rate in the entire province,” Daly said.

Daly says the OPS typically saw about 400 to 500 visits per week and has reversed more than 300 overdoses since its opening.

Across Vancouver, there are 12 overdose prevention sites, most of them located in the Downtown Eastside. But with the latest closure, that number drops to 11.

People who relied on the site will be directed to services in the Downtown Eastside, which is about a 30-minute walk away.

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Earlier this week, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control issued a province-wide drug alert, noting new substances in the unregulated drug supply are putting people at risk province-wide. 

It says medetomidine, used primarily by veterinarians to sedate animals, is now being mixed with opioids like fentanyl.

Harm reduction and recovery advocate Guy Felicella said closing overdose prevention sites at a time like this is “disappointing and sad.”

“With the drug supply this deadly, not only you’re going to see people consuming substances out in the community, we could also witness people dying out in the community,” he said.

“I struggled in this area and the Downtown Eastside for decades and I was brought back to life multiple times at these services,” he said. 

Daly says the health authority is working with the City of Vancouver and other partners to identify a permanent or at least a temporary replacement location but she says it has become increasingly difficult to find a location that would host overdose prevention services.

“We hope to have something available on at least a temporary basis within the next week or two,” she said.