New mental health and addictions emergency care space to be built at Thunder Bay, Ont., hospital
CBC
A new space is being built at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) for patients that need emergency mental health and addictions care.
The aim of the area is to divert patients from the emergency department into a more private setting for treatment.
Ontario's minister of health Sylvia Jones was in Thunder Bay, Ont., to announce the project on Monday.
"Our government's investment will create a new space designed to provide care in a safe and private setting for parents and their families, with improved space for nursing and physician assessments, enhanced programming and care plan development that puts people at the centre, and direct access from the emergency department triage," Jones said during a press conference.
The government has not specified how much it is spending on the project, only that it is part of its nearly $400 million investment over three years on mental health and addictions services.
The project is in the early planning and design stage, with no timeline for its construction or tentative completion.
"A construction schedule will be confirmed once future planning is complete and the project is tendered and awarded," the Ontario government said in a statement Monday.
The TBRHSC is the only schedule 1 facility in the district for mental health services, which means it is the only hospital in the area that can admit patients involuntarily, as per Ontario's Mental Health Act.
"At times, we've been very strained to provide the level of care that we expect from this organization and that patients deserve," said Kyle Lansdell, chief of emergency and trauma services at the TBRHSC.
"Having a dedicated area is going to be vital for patients to be able to have an area where they're comfortable, where they're not stigmatized, and where they're being able to be provided safe and confidential care."
It also gives staff members a space where they can safely observe patients and have improved interactions, he added.
Thunder Bay is a health-care hub for several surrounding communities and dozens of First Nations. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, president and CEO of the hospital, said the impact of having the new space and observation area will be felt throughout the region.
"With the steady rise of mental health and substance use visits at our hospital, we are in a unique position, and it provides significant health-care challenges that are systemic in nature," Crocker Ellacott said.
"This investment is vital to reduce health-care inequities across northwestern Ontario and enhance both clinical care and service excellence for the patients that we serve."
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