Sault Area Hospital gets mental health beds back

Meeting today in Sault Ste. Marie, the North East Local Health Integration Network (NE LHIN) approved restoring seven acute mental health care beds, bringing the total mental health beds in the new Sault Area Hospital to 30.

"Restoring the full complement of mental health beds at our new hospital is an important issue for both residents in the community that need this support and for those working in this area of health care," said Sault MPP David Orazietti. "We opposed the previous government's decision to decrease the number of mental health beds in Sault Ste. Marie. And after significant progress with our partners, I am extremely pleased with the NE LHIN’s commitment to improving mental health care in our community."

In 1999, SAH was been instructed to reduce its inpatient mental health beds from 30 to 23 by 2000.

But a high demand for those beds prevented the hospital from acting on that instruction.

The new SAH mental health care area is designed for 23 beds.

The addition of seven more beds to that section of the hospital will pose some new but welcome design challenges if the applause that greeted today's announcement is any indication.

The NE LHIN also accepted a report from the Hay Group, recommending that 31 regional specialized mental health beds that need to find a new home when the North Eastern Mental Health Centre relocates, be sent to Sudbury.

Sault Ste. Marie was among the locations being considered for those regional beds but the board decided today they will not come here.

The North Eastern Mental Health Centre will begin its move to the new North Bay Regional Health Centre in June but 31 mental health inpatient beds were left out of the design of the new facility.

The board also received a report from Agora Group recommending mental health services in Algoma be integrated by forming an anchor agency to support, integrate and assist all 18 organizations offering 129 programs and services across Algoma.

Meeting today at Sault Area Hospital's Riverview Centre boardroom NE LHIN members found themselves inadvertent witnesses to the performance of local hospital staff and paramedics in a medical emergency.

Near the end of today's meeting, Sault Star Reporter Dan Bellerose collapsed, briefly seeming to lose consciousness.

A number of medical personnel in the room responded to Bellerose's distress immediately.

Within a minute, a crash cart was at his side along with a team of emergency responders.

Bellerose appeared to regain consciousness but staff monitoring his vitals suggested he remain on the floor and await the ambulance.

It took about five minutes for the ambulance to arrive and another ten or so minutes for paramedics to assess Bellerose, gather his things and help him onto the stretcher.

As they left the room, Bellerose seemed fairly alert and responsive.

Once the Sault Star reporter had been safely attended to, the meeting resumed and meeting Chair Peter Vaudry expressed hope that Bellerose would enjoy a full and speedy recovery.

A news release from NE LHIN about today's meeting follows:

************************* Addiction and mental health services in Northeastern Ontario

A milestone day. More consumer-focused, more integrated, more community capacity

SAULT STE. MARIE - (April 29) - The role of the NE LHIN in shaping the delivery of addiction and mental health services was laid out in detail today during an open meeting of the NE LHIN board of directors held in Sault Ste. Marie and video- and tele-conferenced across the region.

Decisions taken by the NE LHIN mark a milestone in the enhancement of the delivery of addiction and mental health services across Northeastern Ontario.

Services that are patient-focused and accessible to people regardless of where they live are cornerstones of the NE LHIN decision-making process.

Services are currently very fragmented and require both capacity and process improvements.

Following nine months of work by the regional advisory panel on addiction and mental health (RAP), the NE LHIN accepted the RAP's recommendation to locate 31 regional specialized mental health beds in Sudbury.

This decision provides Sudbury with local access to specialized care beds.

The task force, whose members included representatives from across the region's addiction and mental health field, noted that their recommendation was based on the best interest of the consumer.

The beds will continue to be regional beds, governed by the Northeast Mental Health Centre (NEMHC) and will be fully accessible to any person in need across the region.

The work of the RAP clears the way for NEMHC to move into a new hospital site in early 2011.

The NE LHIN Board also received a report from the Algoma Health System Round Table which calls on the LHIN to integrate 129 addiction and mental health services currently delivered by 18 different organizations.

NE LHIN staff were instructed to develop an implementation plan taking into consideration the report's recommendations.

During the meeting, the NE LHIN also recognized the high demand for acute adult mental health beds within Algoma and advised that it will continue to work with the Sault Area Hospital and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to ensure seven new mental health beds are a part of the new hospital site which is expected to open in 2011.

These three decisions are only one part of a larger envelope of addiction and mental health work in which the NE LHIN is fully involved.

The NE LHIN will continue to work with partners from all across the region on initiatives in three main areas: adults in need, children and youth in need and information management.

Facts

- Addiction and mental health services in Northeastern Ontario are currently fragmented with more than 80 different organizations providing services.

- Each year, the NE LHIN allocates some $70 million to the community addiction and mental health sector, approximately $32 million to four (large) hospitals, in addition to $57 million to the region's only specialized mental health centre, the Northeast Mental Health Centre.

- At some time in their lives, about 20 percent of Ontarians - one in every five people - will experience a serious mental illness or harmful substance use, and five percent will have a serious problem with gambling.

- Between 15 percent and 21 percent of children and youth in Ontario have at least one mental health issue; and 10 percent to 25 percent of seniors experience mental health disorders. *************************