Whereas local governments have been raising concerns in recent years regarding the increasing demands being placed upon police resources and hospital emergency services by people with mental health and addiction issues; And whereas people with mental health and addiction issues deserve proper and timely psychiatric and medical care; And whereas some municipalities have made repeated requests to the Provincial government to provide adequate resources to deal with people with mental health and addiction issues without seeing any improvements to services or resources: Therefore be it resolved that the provincial government be called upon to develop a long-term, multi-faceted strategy to help people suffering from mental health and addiction issues including integrated health and psychiatric care, criminal justice reform, and access to affordable housing, as a matter of priority within the BC health care system; And be it further resolved that UBCM call on the provincial government to ensure that the level of resourcing and facilities for providing mental health and addiction services are increased throughout the province to allow for improved access and treatment for those suffering from mental health issues, including addictions.
Ministry of Health Our Government has made it a priority to build a comprehensive system of mental health and substance use services throughout the province, with the Ministry of Health the Ministry making record investments totalling 1.4 billion annually. The Province also invested a total of 138 million of capital funding to build or expand mental health facilities in communities around BC as part of the Riverview Redevelopment Project. Community-based facilities offer patients better living environments, closer to their communities and family supports. In 2013, the Ministry acknowledged that individuals with severe addiction and or mental illness have unmet service needs that are resulting in risk to clients and providers, high use of police, corrections and emergency services, high rates of homelessness and concerns for public safety. In response, the Government developed a provincial Action Plan: Improving Health Services for Individuals with Severe Addiction and Mental Illness with immediate and longer-term actions to improve outcomes for this client population. Since the announcement of this provincial Action Plan in November 2013, the Ministry has provided 20.25 million beginning in 201415 for health authorities to expand services for this client population and the following new mental health and substance use services have been developed throughout BC: o Two new Assertive Community Treatment ACT teams in Vancouver for a total of five. o A new nine-bed Acute Behavioural Stabilization Unit at St. Pauls Hospital to provide specialized, short-term, intensive mental health and addiction treatment. o An Assertive Outreach Team in Vancouver offering short-term intensive transition support, linking high need patients from emergency rooms to the appropriate community care. o Expansion of the Inner City Youth Team in Vancouver to support up to 240 youths. o A new youth group home Renfrew House in Vancouver offering housing, social supports and clinical care for vulnerable youth aged 16-24. o New rehabilitation and recovery program on the Riverview grounds - 40 beds in total 14 beds as part of the Action Plan funding and 26 beds transferred from the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addictions. o New ACT teams in Kamloops, Kelowna, AbbotsfordMission, and SurreyNorth Delta. o A new 14-bed transitional Regional Tertiary Care Facility in Victoria. Three new Intensive Case Management Teams ICMT serving Mount Waddington area Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Alert Bay, CourtenayComox, and South Island. o Three new ICMTs in the communities of Prince George, Fort St. John and Terrace. o New Psychiatric Liaison Nurse rotations based in Emergency Departments in Prince George, Fort St. John, and Prince Rupert. In addition, the Province has invested additional capital funding to upgrade and expand mental health facilities for this client population, such as: o 38 million toward the 62 million Greta Robert H.N. Ho Centre for Psychiatry and Education the HOpe Centre at the Lions Gate Hospital, which opened in December 2014. o 57 million toward the 82 million 100-bed Joseph Rosalie Segal Family Health Centre at Vancouver General Hospital, which is expected to be complete in 2017. o A new 75-bed mental health and substance use building replacing the aging Sherbrooke Centre is expected to be open in 2019 as part of the 259 million first phase of the Royal Columbian Hospital RCH Redevelopment project. The provincial capital contribution to this project is 250 million. o 101 million for the Centre for Mental Health and Addictions CMHA Replacement Project, a new purpose-built 105-bed facility to replace the Burnaby CMHA, and planned to complete in 2019. The CMHA provides services to the severely addicted and mentally ill patient population. Also, the Ministry, health authorities, and Ministry of Justice are committed to addressing the needs of this client population in contact with the justice system through a collaborative and integrated response. BC Corrections is linking offenders with MHSU problems to community resources, and it has partnered in a number of integration projects such as the Prolific Offenders Management Project integrating resources from criminal justice, health and social services in six communities Kamloops, Nanaimo, Prince George, Surrey, Williams Lake, and the Victoria Capital Regional District. This initiative started in 2008 and has demonstrated reduced recidivism; best practices learned from this initiative will be incorporated throughout the province. Partners in Change, an inter-ministry partnership initiative with the Ministry of Justice, will improve the continuity of care for adults with mental health and substance use problems in contact with Corrections, both in custody and community corrections. Deliverables include a provincial service framework, transition protocols and information-sharing protocols between health authorities and BC Corrections. Also, mobile crisis response teams provide a joint health and police response to people in a mental health crisis e.g., Car 87 in Vancouver to provide on-site psychiatric assessments, interventions and linking people to appropriate services. These mobile response teams are located in five BC communities and provide a joint health and police response to people in a mental health crisis with on-site crisis intervention, assessment and referral to appropriate services Kamloops, Prince George, Surrey, Vancouver, Victoria. There are also 20 Assertive Community Treatment Teams in BC that work in partnership with local police to support individuals with complex care needs. Vancouver Coastal Health, West Vancouver and Vancouver Police Departments, and the RCMP are collaborating to address the needs of mental health and substance use clients in crisis when presenting to the emergency department. Island Health is also working on processes to ensure smoother transitions for individuals brought to emergency departments by police. The Ministry has partnered with the health authorities and the Ministry of Justices Policing and Security Branch, to develop overarching guidelines to support the development or enhancements of local protocols between police agencies and MHSU services. These protocols will outline their respective roles and responsibilities to provide an effective, resource-efficient and integrated response to the needs of people with MHSU problems who come into contact with police.