Downtown: One-stop shopping for mental health and addictions services

BY WENDY BIRD

It could be one of Greater Sudbury’s best kept secrets: a hub for mental health and addictions services that is open to anyone who may be in need of support.

The centre, which opened last fall without much fanfare, thanks to the overwhelming din of provincial election campaigning, is located at 127 Cedar St. and is home to numerous programs and services.

The Sudbury Regional Hospital put out several print advertisements, posters and radio ads to publicize the move, but residents have been slow to realize the wealth of support that is now being offered at a key location — across from the city bus terminal downtown.

“There certainly are historical anecdotes about people who are not aware of how the system has become streamlined,” said Maureen McLelland, administrative director, with the hospital’s mental health and addictions program.

“Our message has been promoted as much as it can be...It’s a tricky thing to keep in people’s minds (in terms of accessing mental health services). People don’t just file this information away for a later date. No one plans to get into a mental health crisis.”

With the consolidation of services at the Cedar St. location, a wide array of support can be accessed, including: assertive community treatment, central intake and referral co-ordination, concurrent disorders, early intervention for psychosis, eating disorders programs, mobile crisis outreach, mood and anxiety programs, outpatient addictions and gambling services (Pinegate outpatient services), positive steps/case management and medication support clinics, a seniors’ mental health outreach program, adult counselling and treatment, as well as transitional outpatient services.

The support network weaves its way up six of the building’s eight floors.

“We’re working hard to integrate services to make it easier for the client and their families...it’s a work in progress,” McLelland added.

“We’re continually looking at the way information flows between teams so that, at the clients’ end, they don’t feel they have to tell their story three times to three different people.

“We’ve really approached this from the point of view that every door is the right door. And if this is not the place, we all know of the other doors that exist.”

All services located at 127 Cedar St. can be reached through one central phone number: 523-4988. For people who prefer to walk-in, the building’s reception area on the main floor offers a friendly greeting area, which includes the services of a crisis worker and central intake staff. There is also a community resource room in which anyone seeking more information about mental health and addictions issues can gather material.

And there is a community kitchen where people and community groups can practise life skills, including cooking, cleaning and laundry.

The streamlined downtown mecca for mental health and addictions services is one of the latest developments in the changing landscape of Greater Sudbury’s health care services.

When those who struggle with mental illness are in crisis, navigating their way downtown may not be a doable option. There are several other pathways for these people, McLelland says. Making a visit to the hospital’s emergency room is a first step.

“Crisis workers assess the situation that the person is in, work with families and try to develop a plan that would see them return to the community backed by supports that are available in the local area,” she said.

Crisis workers are available through the emergency department 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

“They really are for those situations that arise quite suddenly in families where they’re not really sure where to turn.”

People can also access crisis intervention directly on the main floor of the hospital. The crisis intervention office is located immediately behind the gift shop, on the main floor and is generally accessible to anyone coming in those main doors. The offices are open to the public Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 9 pm. Afterwards, direct walk-ins are encouraged to go to the emergency department, where crisis workers will do interviews right in the emergency department itself, in a private interview room.

“Either way, if they are showing up in registration or showing up in emergency, they’ll be redirected to crisis intervention if that seems most appropriate,” McLelland said.

For those who cannot “walk-in” for care, they have the option to “call-in” for help.

The number - 675-4760 - is located in the front of the Sudbury-Manitoulin phone book under the emergency phone number listing.

“It’s a common occurrence that people call in for help. If the person needs to be seen, and if it’s appropriate, we will send a crisis worker out to see them, as opposed to having them come to us,” she noted.

“The mobile crisis team will visit with people, provided it is not a high-risk call (such as someone who is extremely agitated or has the potential for violence).”

Crisis mental health care is also available for patients who “roll-in” to hospital with police or via ambulance. In this situation, crisis workers are dispatched to assess and intervene in a timely manner.

McLelland added that, in addition to all of the above services, the hospital is working on a “final piece of the puzzle”: crisis safe beds.

“We will be operating some crisis safe beds in early 2008,” she said.

“These beds are meant for situations where, after assessment by crisis staff, and if it’s deemed to be appropriate, a person is offered a safe bed in a safe location for a period of three to seven days so that they can mobilize resources, such as emergency shelter, access to Ontario benefits, working with the family and so on.”

A crisis worker is assigned to each “safe bed.”

For the average person on the street who is overcome by a mental health crisis, recalling any of the above options may be difficult to do, especially if he or she is feeling lost, vulnerable, agitated and cannot think clearly.

“That’s when people need to turn to the front of the phone book and call 675-4760,” McLelland said.

If there is no crisis element involved, that person will be referred to the central intake or assessment service, which is located in the Cedar St. building.

“We’re trying to make our site more client-friendly so a person doesn’t have to call several places to get the answer he or she is looking for. Now there is one number, one office, one location in terms of getting information about mental health and addictions care,” she added.

“We have a real opportunity to help streamline access to the system.”

The downtown site also works in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).

“The hospital has the treatment programs in terms of clinical treatment, while the CMHA has additional services that are delivered for people with mental health issues, particularly around housing and around rehab support,” McLelland said.

“One of their staff sits with us in our central intake service and offers community information about soup kitchens, food banks, how to access disability support, Ontario works, employment — all of those bridging functions. (The CMHA workers form a) very critical part of our team.”

There is yet another avenue of support for those needing mental health or addictions services, but it’s not one that everyone has easy access to: the help of a family physician.

With the help of a family physician, a person requiring mental health support can be referred to the psychiatric outpatient clinic, which is located at the former Sudbury Algoma Hospital and is now known as the Kirkwood site of the Sudbury Regional Hospital.

“A psychiatrist would review that patient’s care, but there is also a nurse working in the psychiatric clinic who is part of our central intake team,” McLelland noted.

“So if he sees people coming through that might benefit from other supports or services (he can offer suggestions). This way we’re tying together the medical part of the program with the community part of the program.”