Doctors on Vancouver Island say they're setting up unsanctioned overdose prevention sites on the grounds of two hospitals this week because the B.C. government hasn't lived up to its promise to set aside space for the sites.

Volunteers in Victoria and Nanaimo set up the pop-up tents Monday morning, without the provincial health department.

An attempt by doctors to set up overdose prevention sites on hospital property in Nanaimo and Victoria were shutdown Monday by the Island health authority, forcing the volunteers to move their operations across the street.

A patient fatally overdosed at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Tuesday shortly after a nearby pop-up service to prevent such deaths had closed, according to a hospital addictions physician. On Monday, two unsanctioned overdose prevention sites were set up, one near the Nanaimo hospital and another across from Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital.

A group of physicians are setting up unofficial overdose prevention sites outside two Vancouver Island hospitals Monday, aiming to help people struggling with addiction – while also sending a message to the government.

Physicians and volunteers say they plan to run the sites for at least the first three days of this week to protest inaction on harm reduction services

The physicians set up pop-up sites at both Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria and Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Monday.