New hub will help addicts and mentally ill

VANCOUVER — A one-stop centre for people struggling with both mental illness and drug addictions has opened at a Vancouver hospital, creating what the B.C. government says is a first-of-itskind facility in Canada.

The St. Paul’s Hospital hub is a centre for rapid assessment, treatment and stabilization that includes an acute medical unit with 10 patient beds, a nursing station and supply room.

The program is meant to divert people who come into St. Paul’s emergency department, which, the province says, treats the largest number of patients with mental health and addictions challenges in B.C.

About 11,000 visits to the hospital’s emergency department every year are related to mental health or substance use. Pressure on the hospital has escalated during the opioid overdose crisis.

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy said staff at the centre will be able to quickly assess and direct the patient to appropriate care, which could range from immediate medical treatment to help accessing social services such as housing. It also means they won’t have to wait in the emergency room for hours and report their problems in front of an audience in the waiting room, she said.

“You won’t be turned away, you won’t be left to navigate a system that is often fragmented and confusing,” Darcy said.

It comes at a time when an average of three to four people are dying of overdoses every day in B.C., the minister said. In other parts of the province, community-action teams are identifying gaps in services and prioritizing needed resources, she said. “The last few months, we’ve seen the numbers begin to come down and stabilize, but it is far, far too early to say we’ve turned the corner on this crisis,” Darcy said of the overdose death toll that prompted the government to declare a public health emergency in 2016.

Emergency department head Dr. Dan Kalla said the centre’s 10 new beds won’t be enough to help all who need care, but they are a significant step, representing about 15 per cent of the hospital’s acute-care beds. “We never have a ‘no vacancy’ sign in the emergency department, we always get more patients than we can handle. But it will make a big difference,” he said.