More people are waiting for eating disorder treatment in northeastern Ontario — and they're waiting longer

CBC News has learned that more than 300 people are waiting for eating disorder treatment through Health Sciences North Regional Eating Disorder program in Sudbury, Ont. Roughly two thirds of that number are adults and the rest are youth under the age of 17. 

Unfortunately, the hospital said, these people will likely be waiting for an average of a year and a half. Since 2019, the the hospital said wait times have grown from 124 days to 417. 

While the situation has worsened over the course of the pandemic, some say the problem isn't new. 

Amanda Lambert, who lives in Sault Ste. Marie says the situation has been unmanageable in northeastern Ontario for years. 

Lambert, 37, has struggled with anorexia for the better part of 20 years. In 2017, she realized she needed help and sought treatment for the disease. But she said it took a year and a half before she was finally admitted into an inpatient program. 

"It was honestly just horrible. I really can understand why people give up," Lambert said.

"It's not like, 'Oh I'm sick, the doctor puts in a referral, a week later you're seeing someone, a week later you're potentially in treatment' ... I didn't get to go to treatment until July of 2018," she said. 

Lambert adds that when she was finally admitted into an inpatient program, she was forced to leave the region and get care in London, Ont. She said being so far away from her family made the road to recovery just that much more difficult. 

Accessing health care when you're sick can be critical in dealing with many illnesses but it's particularly true for those suffering from eating disorders like anorexia. Experts warn that early intervention is essential in preventing chronic and enduring illness.

New Democrat Member of Provincial Parliament France Gélinas has been the party's health critic for many years. In speaking with her constituents in Nickel Belt, she said she has seen the consequences first hand. 

"It is awful. Health Sciences do the best they can. They haven't got the resources to meet the needs of the people of the northeast. Referral outside of our community is just as slow and people sit at home and suffer with sometimes drastic consequences to the long wait — including death," Gélinas said.

"I see things [getting] worse, I see people having lifelong consequences due to the fact that they got an eating disorder and they were not able to access the care in a timely fashion," she said. 

The situation elsewhere in the northeast isn't any better. While the eating disorder program at the North Bay Regional Health Centre is smaller, its wait times and waitlists are also growing. 

According to the hospital, referral rates have increased by well over 170 per cent. Just three years ago, people waiting for eating disorder treatment were waiting an average of nine days. Now the wait time has grown to about a month.