About OATC Clinics
The Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres (OATC) were founded in 1995. At that time, treatment for opioid agonist therapy, utilizing methadone, was extremely under-serviced and those seeking treatment often were forced to travel hundreds of kilometers to seek care.
Today, OATC services over fifty communities throughout Ontario, treating over ten thousand patients daily. Our staff is highly dedicated to ensuring optimal care and great effort is made toward encouraging long term sobriety from all illicit substances. While the goal may be abstinence for some, OATC focuses on a model of harm reduction. This is not a new concept. Quite simply, it promotes the notion that left untreated, drug addiction causes many harmful outcomes included victimization, overdose, incarceration, relationship and financial struggles and even death. Harm reduction principles seek to engage individuals in therapy using a non-judgmental approach in an attempt to motivate individuals to a healthier life style.
In addition to treating opioid addiction (painkillers such as codeine, morphine, oxycodone, heroin, fentanyl, etc), we have taken steps to also address use of other addictive substances by our patients (nicotine, cocaine, alcohol, marijuana) as well as offering therapy to some of the unfortunate medical consequences of addiction, such as Hepatitis C and HIV care.
We are proud of what we have accomplished over the last two decades. OATC has helped save the lives of many who might have otherwise become victim to untreated addiction. We are grateful to our community supporters as well as the many social agencies that have helped to promote our long term existence. Above all, however, we are especially encouraged by those who have attended our Centres and have climbed that often unforgiving mountain, reclaiming the life was so ruthlessly stolen from them while in the throes of addiction.