P.E.I. lays out 5-year plan for mental health and addictions spending

The province announced more details Tuesday of itsplan to improve Prince Edward Island's mental health and addictions programs and services.

Two weeks ago in the 2019-2020 capital budget, government said it planned to spend$100 million over the next five years.

Officials with the province said along with withplanningfirmCannonDesign they've spent the past year poring over data from P.E.I.'s mental health system and meeting with care providers, patients and others to figure out what is needed most and when.

They saidonly half of the12,000 people who were referred for mental health and addictions help were seen in the 2016 2017 year.

They also discovered wait times for mental health and addictions patients in the ER usually range between nineand 30 hours.

They outlined today where they plan to spend millions of dollars to try to fix some of these issues.

2018 - 2019

In the coming year, the provinceplans to establish what it is calling "e-mental health solutions" more online help for patients including an online self-assessment tool, rural tele-mental health services, virtual therapies and peer counselling.

"We don't necessarilywant people going to emergencyif they can get that service closer to home," said Verna Ryan, chief administrative officer of mental health and addictions services for Health PEI.

"Whether it is through a crisis team, anact team [Assertive Community Treatment]or through a community hub, that is what we want. Wewant people to feel supported and have their needs addressed as close to home as possible."

2019 2020

The following year, the province plans to have four community access centres openinCharlottetown,Summerside, West Prince and Kings County.

They will be looking for central locations that would be open 12 hours a day,seven days a week, where people can have access to services andcommunity mental health and addictions staff.

"Ideally with the community hubs, we want it to be a place where people will want to go, where they might get more than one service met," said Dr. Heather Keizer, Health PEI's chief of mental healthand addictions.

"Depending on the community, it might be place where they could get a cup of coffee, where they might be able to have contact with a social worker to fill out theirpaperwork because that is a big issue with many people."

The province is also planning to have mobile crisis response teams up and running next year.

"If you have a mobile crisis unit in place, you can actually reduce the visits to the emergency room by up to 60 per cent," said Keizer. "We would really like to have that in place first to be able to guide us as we move forward we want to give the best care in the best location possible."

2020 2021

A new eight-bed housing facility is planned to be ready on the grounds of the current HillsboroughHospitalby 2020-21, officials said.

The facility will serve two purposes assisting patients transitioningfrom the hospital to the community, and a day program for patientsspending the day who do not need hospitalization.

2021 2022

The following year, government plans to adda dedicated 12-bed emergencydepartment for mental health and addictions atthe Queen Elizabeth Hospital, with eighttreatment spaces and fourbeds for stabilization.

The province also plans during this year and the year after to createmore mental health residential servicesinCharlottetown and Summerside, to give long-term housing with community mental health supports for those living with mental illness.

2024 2025

The province'snew mental health and addictions hospital should be up and running by 2024 -25, officials said.

"Some of the componentsthat we have laid out to '24-'25 are sequential, so we need certain things in place before we can make changes," Ryan said.

Health PEI plans to issue a tender in early December to hire a consultant to develop the infrastructure plan to design and build the system.

"We will ensure the public is engaged and kept informed on the project timelines and the information," promised Health Minister Robert Mitchell.

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