Perez gone, but still working with NHS by video
It’s taken some getting used to, not being in the same room as his patients, but long distance psychiatry is now the focus of Dr. Edgardo Perez’s practice.
For 18 hours a week Perez, the former head of the Niagara Health System’s mental health and addictions program, leads his group therapy sessions via a video link from his home in Ottawa.
“Certainly, my preference is to be in the same room as my patients. I think he helps build that important relationship with them,” said Perez in a Wednesday interview via the same Ontario Telemedicine Network link he uses to talk to patients at the St. Catharines hospital.
“But I am getting used to it. You can still see how a patient is doing and how they react.”
Telepsychiatry was introduced to the NHS emergency department five years ago by Perez as a stopgap measure to cope with a shortage of psychiatrists in Niagara. There were not enough psychiatrists in the region to respond to the number of mental health cases the emergency department was receiving, so linking with doctors outside the region became a way to ensure patients could get the help they needed promptly.
Perez said it was critically important to be able to connect patients in crisis with a psychiatrist and the OTN link allowed that to happen.
Since then, the doctor shortage hasn’t improved, and telepsychiatry has become a staple of NHS mental health programs.
Barb Pizzingrilli, director of patient care mental health and addictions said telepsychiatry began out of necessity, but it has proven to be an effective tool.
“At first, we were concerned about the patients, if they would react poorly to talking to someone on a screen,” she said. “But that hasn’t been the case and I think most patients are pleased to have someone there helping them.”
Perez stepped down as the head of the NHS mental health department in March.
“My wife has followed me around all over the place during my career. I am 66 now, and she wanted to move back to Ottawa, so we decided to move,” said Perez.
Dr. Amin Muhammad is acting as the chief of mental health services. The NHS has advertised for the job and hired a recruiting firm to find candidates. Perez’s office at the NHS may have been cleared out, but he is still a constant presence at the NHS.
He decided to continue to work with the group therapy programs he established when he was at the NHS. Psychiatrists and their patients often have a relationship that spans years, and Perez said he felt it was important to maintain those connections.
He also said he comes back to the NHS for a week each month to meet with his therapy groups and help out where he can.
Muhammad said even though he is physically at the St. Catharines hospital, he still engages with patients using telepsychiatry often. Muhammad has a connection at home that allows him to talk to patients in the emergency department after hours.
Pizzingrilli said telepsychiatry worked so well, other NHS departments are using the OTN network, and she expects that it will become more common across the province over time.
Perez said the potential of telemedicine is tremendous. As an example, he said mental health programs in the United States have used the technology to connect patients with psychiatrists in other countries, helping overcome doctor shortages in America. glafleche@postmedia.com