Lack of P.A. child psychiatrists forces closure of in-patient unit
The lack of child psychiatrists in Prince Albert has forced the temporary closure of the Victoria Hospital’s 10-bed inpatient child psychiatry unit and prompted calls from the NDP for the provincial government to do more to address the shortage.
The Prince Albert Child and Youth Mental Health Inpatient Unit is home to one-third of Saskatchewan’s youth psychiatric beds, with two more 10-bed units in Regina and Saskatoon.
The P.A. unit stopped admitting patients in June after the city’s last remaining child psychiatrist retired. Just over half a year earlier, another P.A. child psychiatrist, Dr. Mohammad Zulfiquar Hussain, died of a heart attack at age 79.
Since June, youth from Prince Albert and the North in need of in-patient psychiatric care have been transferred to Saskatoon.