Hospitals say they're not involved in Holt's campaign pledge for a downtown mental health ER

Chris Holt wants to invest $9 million in an emergency room in downtown Windsor specifically to deal with mental health issues.

Now two local hospitals have followed up with a statement to let people know that neither organization has been involved in the plan. 

Holt said this week that if elected, he'd push the city to fund a three-year pilot project for mental health emergency services, then lobby for the provincial government to take over. He'd do this by stopping the Legacy Beacon streetcar project on the city's riverfront and cancelling new water slides at Adventure Bay.

The project, he said, would ensure people "will not end up in jail or at Windsor Regional Hospital ER simply to be discharged the next day."

"We are faced with incredible social challenges in our community," Holt said Thursday. "Our mental health and addictions sectors cannot handle the huge surge of issues and of people we have seen on the streets over the last five years."

Fellow mayoral candidate Drew Dilkens fired back at the plan, continuing to characterize Holt's decision-making as "risky."

"Chris Holt is going off without all the facts, not talking with partners," Dilkens said. "The plan he put forward talks about spending $9 million of city taxpayer funding to fund projects out of the responsibility of the province of Ontario."

Holt said his idea mirrors Dilkens' plan for a 24-hour drop off centre for people who are suffering from mental health issues. Dilkens disagrees, saying his plan won't use city money. 

Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital got involved Thursday, issuing a joint statement saying they aren't involved in Holt's proposal. 

Conflict of interest

Dilkens also tweeted a letter reportedly sent on behalf of Hôtel-Dieu Grace president and CEO Bill Marra. The letter states, in part, that HDGH is not involved "in any collaborative discussions or partnership opportunities whatsoever with any municipal candidates as has been implied."

"I have been communicating with Mayor Drew Dilkens and [Windsor Regional Hospital president and CEO] David Musyj to assure them that we are in no way involved," the letter said. 

CBC News has not been able to independently verify that the letter came from Marra.

Holt said that when his campaign contacted HDGH, it was only to confirm their statistics about their plan to create a mental health-specific emergency room in the downtown core.

"It was never implied that we had a working relationship with them," he said. "We're just doing our homework. This is an election campaign and you do not enter into agreements and MOUs while you're in an election campaign."

Support for the mental health-specific ER

Holt says the Downtown Mission is one of the agencies that has been dealing with the issue of mental health. Rukshini Ponniah-Goulin, executive director of the Downtown Mission, said they have been working with the mobile health clinic and would like to see something permanent.

"We would definitely appreciate that support," she said. "We'd obviously work with those partners in whatever capacity it might be that would be required."

Ponniah-Goulin said the Downtown Mission would be willing to work with any politicians or community partners going forward to curb mental health issues. She says there is a need for physical health support and mental health support.

"We've seen an increase of people who have been experiencing different issues with mental health and addictions," said Ponniah-Goulin. "Over the last six months, even the last year, we've seen a huge increase month over month. If we do have some support in downtown Windsor, that would be great."