After relocating to the Braeside Medicentre, Second Chance Recovery is closing because staff and doctors are afraid for their safety. (CBC)

Patients of a methadone clinic closing due to neighbourhood opposition will have trouble finding treatment elsewhere, says a spokeswoman from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

The Second Chance Recovery methadone clinic, which treats about 500 people trying to kick addictions to heroin and prescription drugs, has announced plans to close after heated opposition from the community of Braeside.

"This is a very specialized patient group so they will have difficulty finding other physicians to take on their treatment," said college spokeswoman Kelly Eby on Thursday. "This is a tough situation."

Hugh Ham, the clinic's lawyer said it's shutting down after staff were intimidated and threatened with damage to the clinic and their vehicles.

Calgary's only other methadone treatment centre is run by the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. With 300 clients, that facility has a three-month waiting list.

"I don't know what I'd do," said Second Chance patient Tom Foster. "I'm in a good situation where I'm actually at the end of the program. So I could probably almost stop and you know it'd be a high risk for me to relapse because I didn't complete it but I don't know what I'd do.

'We will need a period of time … for a transition because we have 500 patients and we must ensure that they receive daily treatment.'—Hugh Ham, clinic lawyer

"I guess they'd have to flush AADAC full of people."

Foster has been getting methadone treatment at the clinic for the last three years, after he developed an addiction to Oxycontin, which was prescribed to him to manage pain.

He said he is frustrated with residents who are afraid that the clinic's clientele would attract crime in the area.

"I'm a tax-paying citizen and I think the perception is that it's all criminals and good-for-nothing people, and it's not. It's a lot of hard-working, genuine people," said Foster.

Eby said there are some options for the patients who will have to find somewhere to get treatment.

"We hope [AADAC] will be able to take some of them on. Some of these patients may be able to go to other areas like Lethbridge or Red Deer to seek treatment and there may be some family doctors who can take them on with some support from somebody who has expertise in methadone treatment."

Finding help for the patients is up to the clinic, she said. The college would only get involved in cases such as patients having trouble accessing their medical records.

Shutdown could take weeks

The decision to close was announced Wednesday, on the heels of what Ham called a "hostile" town hall meeting on Tuesday night, where angry residents shouted down and booed their area alderman several times.

"We will be shutting the clinic down as soon as it can be physically arranged. It may take a few weeks, it may take a month," Ham said. "We will need a period of time — we aren't sure exactly how long — for a transition because we have 500 patients and we must ensure that they receive daily treatment."

The clinic won't be relocating within Calgary, he said.

Second Chance Recovery was located downtown for six years, but its lease was not renewed, so it relocated to a light industrial park on 41st Avenue N.E. in late 2008.

The city ordered it to move out after a community association pointed out the area wasn't zoned for a medical clinic. Opposition to the clinic from businesses and residents also led to a lease agreement falling through in Forest Lawn.