Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen announced Monday, November 18, 2019, that the province will invest more than $4.2 million in enhanced mental health services for children and youth.
“Children and youth with mental health issues require improved quality of care and quicker access to assessments,” said Friesen. “These investments will improve patient flow in the Children’s Hospital emergency department and reduce wait times for outpatient services.”
The increased funding will allow additional resources to be added to services already in place at Children’s Hospital. Psychiatric emergency nurses will be made available to assess children when they come into the emergency department.
Group treatment will be made available to the existing anxiety disorders service as well as individual treatment for youth in crisis. Group treatment capacity will also be increased for outpatients after 12 weeks of crisis treatment.
The funding will also allow for urgent consultation to rural and remote health-care centres which will reduce the number of patient transfers from those communities.
“This investment will allow us to provide appropriate and timely care to more children and youth, improving access to the range of mental health services we provide to patients and families in the community,” said Dr. Laurence Katz, medical director, child and adolescent mental health, HSC Winnipeg.
In the next fiscal year, the second phase will include the development of a clinic dedicated to patient followup.
The funding will also enable the expansion to a 12-week multidisciplinary crisis treatment program as well as another service for group, individual and family therapy for children and adolescents with mood and anxiety disorders.
© News4.ca 2020
