(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Healthy communities

Province provides funding for 10 new beds at Prince Albert’s Our House

Jan 4, 2022 | 1:00 PM

The addition of 10 new beds at Our House, will have a big impact on the clients they serve, according to the chief executive officer of the Prince Albert YWCA.

Donna Brooks was reacting to Tuesday’s funding announcement from the provincial government. The six intensive residential mental health beds and four less intensive beds, are part of a larger province wide initiative to help people transition from hospital back into their communities. Brooks explained the intensive care beds act as a support for people who may be at risk for being admitted into the mental health ward at Victoria Hospital.

“A lot of times when people are battling severe mental health issues, it leads to them being homeless, it leads to a number of different problems,” she said.

Brooks went on to explain the less intensive care beds act as step down beds from the more intensive ones, and so once the clients are ready, they can transition over.

“The idea of this is to get people stabilized enough so the actually follow the continuum where they eventually get to their own supportive apartment or supportive living like Homeward Bound,” Brooks said.

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The new beds are part of a 2019-20 provincial budget commitment to provide approximately 75 residential mental health beds across Saskatchewan, with $6 million of annual funding beginning 2020-21. Brooks explained prior to applying for funding, representatives from various social agencies in the city went to visit the Phoenix Residential Society in Regina, which has been operating for about a year.

“The model has been very successful. It helps keep people out of the hospital; it helps keeps people off the street, and it helps stabilize people with mental health issues,” she said.

The provincial funding also allowed an additional two beds to be secured in Saskatoon, resulting in 77 total new mental health residential beds province wide. In North Battleford, Edwards Residential Society was selected to provide eight less intensive residential mental health beds.

“Residential beds are an important support for people experiencing mental health challenges that allow them to continue living in the community and to their fullest potential,” Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health Minister Everett Hindley said in a statement. “These new beds help fulfill our commitment to increasing mental health care services in Saskatchewan.”

The new beds in Prince Albert will be operational in March 2022, and will be accessed through referral by mental health professionals.

Colleen Quinlan, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s Executive Director of Mental Health and Addictions – Urban, explained people living with and recovering from mental illness sometimes experience housing insecurity that is a barrier to their recovery.

“The organizations providing these supported living arrangements are welcoming and understand the challenges people living with a severe mental illness face. They can support individuals as they focus on recovery goals that maintain optimal living, and help them work through barriers that challenge their stability,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell