A service that provides care to people in Windsor-Essex who are facing an immediate crisis related to a mental health or addiction issue is increasing its hours of operation and expanding.
On Tuesday, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, along with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Windsor Police Services, Essex-Windsor EMS, and Windsor Regional Hospital, announced plans to expand services at the HDGH Mental Health and Addictions Urgent Crisis Centre (MHAUCC).
The site right next to the emergency department at Windsor Regional Hospital's Ouellette Campus will now operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, giving police and EMS more options to take those in need to a place to receive care.
People who voluntarily agree to go to the centre will receive help from subject matter experts, freeing up police and EMS to respond to priority incidents and reducing emergency room wait times.
Windsor Police Chief Jason Bellaire says they already have the tools to apprehend people under the Mental Health Act, but the problem they were having is that they had nothing to offer those below that severe acuity level who couldn't be apprehended.
"Being able to bring somebody who has agreed in a moment of clarity to say, I would like to enter withdrawal management, or I would like some certain services, to have the ability to transport that person to this centre here, and they immediately start to receive care, I would say from a statistical point of view, will help us," he says.
Bill Marra, President and CEO of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, says the budget for the program will be north of $1 million a year and that they are repurposing existing funding from other mental health dollars to fund the expansion.
Marra says it's their responsibility to revisit their staffing models and models of care to get people to the right care at the right time.
"So this will not be the end-all and be-all. This will not solve all of our challenges and issues. This is one more tool to enhance services to get police and EMS back on the road where they belong quicker and to allow, ultimately, that patient or client to get the care he or she requires," he says.
Current walk-in crisis services will remain between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., 7 days a week for anyone experiencing a mental health or addictions crisis.
Between June 24 and December 31 of last year, the MHAUCC saw 943 clients; 44 of those clients were transferred directly from the emergency department.