Turnings executive director Ron Fitzpatrick wants N.L. to improve services for recovering addicts. (CBC)

An advocate for people recovering from drug addictions says the province is failing them.

Ron Fitzpatrick, executive director of the group Turnings, says people addicted to drugs like OxyContin and cocaine can't get the services they need.

"There are at least 20 to 24 people waiting to get into the temporary detox centre," said Fitzpatrick.

The province's largest health authority, Eastern Health, runs a detoxification centre in St. John's.

It closed in March because of leaking pipes. It hasn't reopened and the temporary location operating on St. Clare Avenue is only one-third the size of the original centre in the Pleasantville area of St. John's.

The temporary detox centre is not wheelchair accessible and it can only house seven people; the Pleasantville centre housed 22.

The Pleasantville centre remains closed because high levels of the wood preserver, creosote, were found during repairs after water damage closed it.

"While the levels [of creosote] were within regulatory limits, they were higher than we'd like to see them," said Eastern Health official Keith Bowden.

The results of the latest round of air quality tests are expected next week.

Last week, Fitzpatrick complained that the temporary centre is squalid.

"The observation room has carpet on the floor. So you got individuals going in there and they're detoxing and there's feces going over the floor all over the carpet and even though it's being cleaned you can imagine the smell," said Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick wrote to Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister, Paul Oram, about the problem late last week.

Since then, Eastern Health has replaced the soiled carpeting at the temporary detox centre.

Health authority officials say they're trying to ensure people who need addiction services get them.

"It's only over the last couple of weeks that our wait list has grown a bit and we've been working very diligently with other medical fields so that we will actually meet the needs of all our clients," said the detox centre's manager, Barry Hewitt.