Mental health funding puts focus on community care

Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault's announcement Friday of a $2.3-million investment in mental health care services in Sudbury and the surrounding area, points to the province's focus on community care, Thibeault said.

“Our hospital is supposed to do a certain point of primary care,” Thibeault said Friday at the offices of the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) in Sudbury. “If we want to reduce costs, we can actually keep people out of the hospital who don't need to be there. Everything is community based. That's where we need to start addressing some of our health care problems.”

The announcement came only days after Health Sciences North announced it would need to cut $5.2 million to achieve a balanced budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

A large portion of the new mental health funding — $1 million – will help kickstart a harm reduction home administered by the Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury-Manitoulin.

The association expects to open the home, and the managed alcohol program it will host, in the late summer.

Tina Ranta, who will manage the program, said the Canadian Mental Health Association is in talks with the City of Greater Sudbury to find a location for the home.

They hope is to have capacity for 12 or 13 people who suffer from chronic homelessness and chronic alcohol abuse, she said.

They would receive small amounts of alcohol in a controlled setting, and while they stay at the home, would have access to clinical services that should help keep them out of the hospital's emergency department.

Ranta said the home will be the first of its kind in Sudbury, but four other cities in Ontario – Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa – have similar homes that have proven successful.

The harm reduction homes have decreased emergency room visits and helped people who stayed their re-integrate into their respective communities.

Maureen McLelland, the administrative director of Health Science North's Mental Health and Addictions Program, said 1,500 people are admitted to the department each year.

Around 10 per cent of patients, she said, are re-admitted after being out of hospital for 30 days.

While many of those individuals suffer from mental illnesses like schizophrenia and mood disorders, many others also suffer from substance abuse.

McLelland said she is positive the new harm reduction home will result in fewer people being re-admitted to hospital.

It would help end a cycle, she said, where patients go into detox, sober up for a short time after they are discharged, but later start drinking again and end up in the emergency department.

“The timing is right for investment in community, when you've got hospital budgets that are being flatlined,” McLelland said.

George Stephens, a recovering alcoholic who consulted with the North East LHIN on its mental health investment, said people with substance abuse problems need a safe place to recover. The harm reduction home will provide such a place, he said.

In addition to $1 million for the harm reduction home, the province also provided $520,000 to the Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury-Manitoulin to provide transitional community support to an additional 180 clients.

The Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury-Manitoulin will also receive $250,000 to expand its corner clinic and provide mental health training to 150 paramedics. In addition, the province will grant the association $50,000 to create a shared space where clients can access a variety of services.

The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Clinic at Health Sciences North will receive $180,460 to see more children and reduce its wait list.
Community Mobilization Sudbury received $260,000 for its Rapid Mobilization Table, which pulls together more than 20 partner organizations so they can provide more timely support to individuals and families in need of mental health services.