Monday, November 15, 2004

Immediate solutions needed to reduce pressure on mental health system in Simcoe and Muskoka (Canada)
Item in CMHA/Ontario's Mental Health Notes - " The Simcoe York District Health Council has developed an action plan to alleviate pressure on the current psychiatric inpatient and community mental health system in Simcoe and Muskoka counties. Solutions identified in a recent report include enhancing crisis capacity, increasing the number of mental health professionals, especially case managers, and implementing shared-care strategies. According to the report, a variety of population and health system factors are putting pressure on the ability of the mental health system to respond to people’s needs. These pressures include rapid population growth and an aging population in the region. While planning allocations state the area needs 75 scheduled mental health beds, there are only 56 available. Close to $1.4 million dollars in new funding was allocated to the region for community mental health services in 2004/2005, but the report notes that this was the first new funding in 12 years..." See also the "Solutions to Alleviate Mental Health System Pressures in Simcoe Muskoka" document (Adobe Acrobat format).