An urban response centre is being proposed to help patients with mental health and addiction issues in Sarnia-Lambton.
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is working with St. Clair Child and Youth Services on funding proposals.
The centre would be modeled after Sudbury's Mental Health and Addictions Program at Health Sciences North, which delivers integrated community and hospital based mental health and addiction services.
CMHA Lambton Kent Branch CEO Alan Stevenson says the best place to receive mental health care, especially the first time, is not in a hospital.
"It's better to receive care in a community setting," says Stevenson. "Our goal is to provide an alternative to someone having to go to emergency, where we can provide a comprehensive assessment and initiate treatment and work with our hospital partners in the event that somebody really does need to be admitted into a hospital."
After rearranging services, Stevenson says the centre is estimated to cost $450,000 -- with a similar site proposed in Chatham.
Paula Reaume-Zimmer, Bluewater Health's VP of mental health and addiction services, says the centre would help alleviate pressures being felt in the emergency department.
Reaume-Zimmer says ten additional beds have been added to the 27 bed inpatient unit this year, to accommodate a surge of individuals being held in the ER.
"We are providing the service on an inpatient medicine until, that we've coordinated, so we can provide a safe environment for the patients for mental health," says Reaume-Zimmer.
She says in April, it cost around $60,000 to operate the additional beds.
"When you have to operate ten additional beds in a different area, we're not able to take advantage of the efficiencies of what a larger unit has to offer," says Reaume-Zimmer.
The average patient is being admitted for seven to ten days, forcing others to wait for beds to open up.
"We have had admitted patients being held in the emergency department up to 29 hours," she says. "We've seen it past 90 hours in our worst case scenario."
In the meantime, everyone is encouraged to seek help early on if you notice signs that you, a family member, a student or a co-worker are not doing well.
Information on local mental health and addiction resources can be found here.
