No mental health care at remand centre: EPS
‘Definitely off the table from our standpoint,’ superintendent says
Edmonton police say they presented old information to city council in a budget briefing and the plan to treat mental health patients at the remand centre is no longer being considered.
“Definitely off the table from our standpoint,” Supt. David Veitch, who heads the co-ordinated policing division, said Thursday.
Police are struggling with long waiting times at emergency departments when they apprehend involuntary mental health patients. They are people who have not committed a crime, but whose condition makes them a threat to themselves or others. Officers were stuck waiting at hospital an average 3.3 hours per patient this fall.
Those patients would get care quicker — and police would get back on the streets sooner — if the patients could be treated by the doctors and psychiatrists currently available at the new Edmonton Remand Centre, police said in a budget briefing document this week.
But when that news came out Wednesday, mental health advocates reacted in shock and called it horrific. They said it would further stigmatize people who have not committed a crime and result in fewer people calling for help when they need it.
Veitch tried to head off those concerns. “We weren’t going to be putting them with the general population,” he said.
He said the idea came out of brainstorming sessions where many options were discussed. The budget brief says: “EPS is working with the province and hopes to find some type of resolution in the near future,” but Veitch said that line should not have been included.
Staff were trying to show councillors the full range of options they considered to deal with the problem, but they have not been pursuing this option, Veitch said. He said they are not currently looking at getting any other facilities designated under law to received involuntary mental health patients. Only five city hospitals currently have this designation, which has to be approved by the province.
On Thursday, Alberta Health also weighed in to say it is not looking at changing the Alberta Mental Health Act” to allow the kind of practice described,” spokeswoman Carolyn Ziegler said in a written statement.
“We recognize the current mental health and addictions system can serve Albertans better. We will be receiving recommendations from the Mental Health Review before the end of the year, and will determine the best path forward in light of those recommendations.”
Veitch said police have also been trying to bring down waiting times by not apprehending people in crisis, instead connecting them with family members familiar with their condition or other community supports. This works for many of the less severe cases and “our wait time has come down,” he said.
“We’re beginning to see some savings.”
The police are also working with Alberta Health Services to better triage the patients police bring in, Veitch said. Currently, police will ask a series of questions to determine if the person posses enough of a risk to be apprehended. Then they bring them to the hospital, sit with them for hours, and see doctors interview the person and sometimes send them on their way.
Veitch said they’re working to develop a shared diagnostic tool police can use make sure they and local psychiatrists are considering the same factors when they make these difficult, subjective decisions.