New Mental Health and Addictions Services Announced
MLAs Shirley Bond and Mike Morris join Mayor Lyn Hall, Northern Health’s Aaron Bond and Michelle Quinn and RCMP Cst. Sonia Blum celebrate the Car 60 program-photo250News
Prince George, B.C. – Northern Health has introduced new programs across northern B.c. tgo assist those with severe mental health issues, or substance abuse.The programs will connect northerners with the serves they need, when and where they need them the most.
The most visible program is the Car 60 program, which has an RCMP officer and mental health nurse respond to those instances where the issue is not criminal in nature, but related to mental health or addictions. The program is helping to prevent those with mental health and substance issues steer away from jail and the emergency room.
Constable Sonia Blom says since the program started just a couple of months ago, they have already answered 140 calls.
Other programs announced today will see new intensive case management teams expanding from Prince George to Terrace and Ft. St. John. These are community based outpatient support teams who provide street and community outreach services to connect those with mental health or substance abuse issues with the proper care and support they need.
The third program will see a new psychiatric liaison nurse position added to hospitals in Prince George, Prince Rupert and Ft. St. John. This nurse will support physicians and staff in emergency departments assess the patient, and start determining the best supports for that patient be it community based programs or in-patient care.
Comments
40 years late, but great to see it here. Too long the judge has had the uneasy task of sending these folks to jail because there’s no where else to put them. And really like the psych nurse on the road, excellent assessments.
I totally agree Grizzly2. It is such a good idea to combine the two and yes it was a long time coming.
I hope this works..but cringe anytime “northern, no concern about health” is involved..
My understanding is that both Lynn Hall and Shirley Bond were approached to support the clinical counselling at CNC, which has recently been cut, yet neither had the courtesy to even respond. The counsellors at the college see somewhere around 400 students a year for mental health care, probably around a third of those are critical enough to raise a concern about suicide, and they couldn’t even be bothered to answer e-mails. Guess there were no photo ops involved.
Both are hypocrites and could care less about the wellbeing of their constituents.
A big Thank You to the Prince George Mental Health Consumer’s Council for their advocacy in helping to make Car 60 a reality. I’m sure that it will be a huge success!
I would like to see some examples of how these people are helped. It is pretty obvious that some people should not be on the streets in the condition they are in.
What are we going to do differently. Having outpatient support teams is one thing, but when they refer to providing those with mental health issues with the proper care and support they need, lets be more specific. How do we get these people into care, where do we send them.?? Who decides that they should go into care.??
Comments for this article are closed.