Child psychiatry program at Jewish General won't close: Hospital administration

Members of the senior administration at the Jewish General Hospital say"child psychiatry services [are] in no danger of closing" following a report by CBC Montreal Investigates.

On Tuesday,the hospital'schief psychiatrist told CBCthe programwas in jeopardy because of an anticipated$600,000 shortfall.

• Jewish General Hospital's child psychiatry programming 'at risk of closure'

Senioradministration at the Jewish General Hospitalrefused an earlier request for an interview, butthe hospital releaseda statement after 5 p.m. on Wednesday in response to CBC's report.

The statement reads, in part: "The child psychiatry program at the Jewish General Hospital is in no danger of closing. Its services continue to be available without change or interruption at the hospital's Centre for Child Development and Mental Health in the Saul and Ruth Kaplan Pavilion."

Programs to be reviewed with 'aim of improving efficiency'

The news release does not, however, deny that the program is facing scrutiny.

In fact, it says all of its programs are facing a"rigorous exercise" to plan for the 2016-2017 budget.

The statementgoes on to say that during this exercise, all programs, including child psychiatry, will be reviewed"withthe aim of improving efficiency without cutting back on services to the public."

Chief psychiatristDr. Karl Looper wrotea letter to the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, warning that the child psychiatry program would be threatenedif they didn't come up with a plan to cover the shortfall.

Senior hospital administration members donot deny that the program is facing cuts.

In fact,the release states"it was the JGH administration that advised Dr. Looper to contact the Foundation for additional funding to ensure that the high quality of the child psychiatry program would be maintained."

Support for programhigh among teachers, parents

The child psychiatry programis well-known in the Montrealarea, especially among teachers whose students have benefited from its services.

Sylvie Levac, a Grade 1teacher at Royal Vale School, has been teaching for 29 years.

She says she's had students who have trouble sitting in a chair,go through the program and end up being able to sit down and concentrate.

"It's amazing sometimes the progressthat we see in those children," Levac said.

She said with all the cuts that the schools have gone through, it's the one resource parents can rely on.

"Sometimes they're just at the end of their rope and they don't understand why their child is behaving a certain way and the help is tremendous for them," Levac said of the program.

Without the child psychiatry service, Levac said she doesn't know where parents would turn.

"That would be terrible ... They need that background. They need answers.They need tools to be able to help their children, and if there's nothing, if the school is not providing enough for them to be able to function in the classroom, that would be terrible."