Thunder Bay

New mental health and addictions emergency care space to be built at Thunder Bay, Ont., hospital

A new space is being built at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) for patients who need emergency mental health and addictions care. The emergency mental health and addictions assessment and observation area will aim to divert patients from the emergency department into a more private setting for treatment. Here's what we know about the project.

Goal is to divert patients from emergency department to more private care setting

One person is seen speaking at a podium. Two people are seen standing next to them.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones is seen at a podium announcing a new emergency mental health and addictions care space at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. (Sarah Law/CBC)

A new space is being built at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) for patients needing emergency mental health and addictions care.

The aim of the area is to divert patients from the emergency department into a more private setting for treatment.

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones was in Thunder Bay on Monday to announce the project.

"Our government's investment will create a new space designed to provide care in a safe and private setting for parents and their families, with improved space for nursing and physician assessments, enhanced programming and care plan development that puts people at the centre, and direct access from the emergency department triage," Jones said.

The government has not specified how much it is spending on the project, only that it is part of its nearly $400-million investment over three years on mental health and addictions services.

WATCH | New mental health and addictions space to be built at Thunder Bay hospital 

New mental health and addictions space to be built at Thunder Bay hospital

1 month ago
Duration 1:03
The Ontario government has announced it will be building a new emergency mental health and addictions assessment area at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. While the timeline and price tag for the project has yet to be determined, here's what health minister Sylvia Jones had to say.

The project is in the early planning and design stage, with no timeline for construction or tentative completion.

"A construction schedule will be confirmed once future planning is complete and the project is tendered and awarded," the Ontario government said in a statement Monday.

Reducing stigma, health-care inequities 

The TBRHSC is the only Schedule 1 facility in the district for mental health services, which means it is the only area hospital that can admit patients involuntarily, as per Ontario's Mental Health Act.

"At times, we've been very strained to provide the level of care that we expect from this organization and that patients deserve," said Kyle Lansdell, chief of emergency and trauma services at the TBRHSC.

A person wearing a maroon shirt is seen indoors, smiling.
Kyle Lansdell, chief of emergency and trauma services at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, says having a dedicated emergency space for mental health and addictions patients will be a gamechanger. (Marc Doucette/CBC)

"Having a dedicated area is going to be vital for patients to be able to have an area where they're comfortable, where they're not stigmatized, and where they're being able to be provided safe and confidential care."

It also gives staff members a space where they can safely observe patients and have improved interactions, he added.

Thunder Bay is a health-care hub for several surrounding communities and dozens of First Nations.

Hospital president/CEO Rhonda Crocker Ellacott said the impact of having the new space and observation area will be felt throughout the region.

"With the steady rise of mental health and substance use visits at our hospital, we are in a unique position, and it provides significant health-care challenges that are systemic in nature," Crocker Ellacott said.

"This investment is vital to reduce health-care inequities across northwestern Ontario and enhance both clinical care and service excellence for the patients that we serve."

HART Hub applications under review: minister

Thunder Bay continues to have one of the highest opioid-related death rates in the province, at a rate of 59.6 per 100,000 population in the first half of 2024.

The city's only supervised consumption site (SCS), Path 525, is slated to close at the end of March, due to the province's new rules about the sites' proximity to schools and child-care settings.

A person sits at a desk in a medical setting.
Juanita Lawson, CEO of NorWest Community Health Centres, is seen at Path 525 in Thunder Bay, the only supervised consumption site in northwestern Ontario. (Sarah Law/CBC)

Instead, the province says it's spending $378 million on 19 new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. These spaces won't allow supervised drug consumption, safer supply or needle exchange programs — all of which are offered at Path 525.

Path 525 is operated by NorWest Community Health Centres (NWCHC). In an email to CBC News earlier this month, CEO Juanita Lawson said the organization has submitted a HART Hub application, also known as a consumption and treatment services (CTS) business transition plan.

WATCH | Ontario's health minister on HART Hubs, harm reduction 

Ontario's health minister on HART Hubs, harm reduction

1 month ago
Duration 1:20
Ontario's health minister Sylvia Jones was in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Monday to announce a new mental health and addictions space at the hospital. The CBC's Sarah Law asked Jones about the status of the province's Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs program. Here's what she said.

When asked about the application's status, Jones said the province has received HART Hub applications from across Ontario.

"We have those applications in the ministry now, we are reviewing them and we expect to be able to make those announcements very early in the new year," she said during Monday's news conference.

Jones was also questioned about where harm reduction fits into the province's overall addictions strategy, but did not provide a direct answer.

"We have to give people hope. We have to give people more than just enabling the illegal drug use," she said. "We've worked very hard as a government, whether it is with our policing and justice partners and of course, in our health-care system, to make sure that we offer pathways out.

"The way to give people hope is to actually offer them alternatives, and that's what we're doing with our HART Hub model and the investments we're making in mental health and addictions."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Law

Reporter

Sarah Law is a CBC News reporter based in Thunder Bay, Ont., and has also worked for newspapers and online publications elsewhere in the province. Have a story tip? You can reach her at sarah.law@cbc.ca