(File photo/The Canadian Press)

By Glenn Hicks

mental health

Prince Albert to get special addictions clinic

Mar 21, 2019 | 4:56 PM

The province’s substantial financial commitment to mental health and addiction services, as presented in Wednesday’s budget, includes new specialized clinics it expects will provide help to addicts far more quickly then that at present. One of the new facilities will be in Prince Albert.

The government is allocating $1.6 million to launch three Rapid Access to Addiction Medicine (RAAD) clinics, with the other two set for Saskatoon and Regina.

Chief executive officer of the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) Scott Livingstone said the clinics allowed patients who made the decision to seek treatment for their addiction to access therapy quicker.

“We create multi-disciplinary teams that are actually in place to ensure patients get access quickly so we can bring them into treatment programs quicker,” he said. “It ensures there are no gaps, so for example, someone trying to get off opioid addiction can be put on methadone quickly, then start them on a path to recovery by connecting them with the rest of our system.”

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Livingstone said these RAAD clinics had been launched in other provinces and had reduced emergency room visits and shortened wait times. The government planned to have them operational in 2020.

Also part of what the government called “The largest investment in mental health and addictions services in Saskatchewan history” was the announcement of 140 new beds across the province for treatment. Much of over $16 million is being added to the ministry of health budget for these.

Livingstone explained they’d be looking at community-based organizations to apply to operate them with funding through the SHA. However, it was not immediately clear how many of the new doctors that would be needed to help staff these additions may be coming to Prince Albert.

“There may be specialist or other primary care providers added to P.A. and area, we just don’t know yet,” he said, noting that would be determined in the coming weeks.

Other key mental health care budget items detailed in the Wednesday announcement included: $515,000 for pediatric nurses and social workers in the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital emergency department; $300,000 to help provide 24/7 nursing supports at the La Ronge Detox Centre; and $250,000 to expand the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Roots of Hope Suicide Prevention Initiative to Buffalo Narrows.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow