Boston Opens New Medically Supervised Space for People on Heroin

A new medically supervised space where people can go after they inject heroin has opened in Boston. ABC News reports the room, run by the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, is part of a growing movement to use harm reduction strategies to reduce the risk of overdose.

The Boston facility contains basic life-saving equipment. People are not allowed to take drugs in the space. It is located along a stretch of road known as Boston’s “Methadone Mile.” It includes a needle exchange program, a methadone clinic and Boston Medical Center’s emergency room.

When the facility was announced, Boston Health Care for the Homeless said a nurse and outreach worker will move among the people in the room, to check breathing, other vital signs and general health. Anyone needing more than nursing care will go to the hospital across the street. The staff will try to get patients into treatment, according to Dr. Jessie Gaeta, the program’s Chief Medical Officer.

The program, called Supportive Place for Observation and Treatment, “will offer engagement, support, medical monitoring, and serve as an entry way to primary care and treatment on demand for 8-10 individuals at a time who are over-sedated from the use of substances and who would otherwise be outside on a street corner, alleyway, or alone in a public bathroom, at high risk of overdose,” the organization said on its website.

Earlier this year, the mayor of Ithaca, New York said he wants his city to be the first in the United States to host a supervised injection facility for people who use heroin. The facility would allow people to inject heroin under the care of a nurse, without getting arrested.