A new emergency area at Lions Gate Hospital aims to provide comprehensive treatment for patients seeking mental health and substance abuse care.
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority first announced its plans to build the Psychiatric Emergency Assessment and Treatment (PEAT) unit in May.
In a statement Wednesday, the health authority said the unit is already receiving patients in eight dedicated spaces within the emergency department and will be staffed by two mental health and substance use nurses and one emergency department nurse.
“[Patients] Come to the emergency department. They are seen by a nurse who determines which area of the department they need. And if it is determined that they come with a mental health or substance use problem, they will be transferred to the PEAT area, which is inside the emergency department,” said Ira Roness, director of North Shore and Sea to Sky Mental Health and Services. substance use.
The PEAT service provider says it hopes the new staff model, which includes dedicated psychiatrists, will help patients long after they have left hospital care.
“[The care] it could include a short stay in the PEAT unit, and once we have that, we can determine if they’re going to be released, linked to our community services that we have with our outpatient mental health substance abuse teams. Or it could be determined that they need a longer stay and could be admitted to the hospital,” he added.
Call for more psychological attention
Last November, the BC Psychological Association and other health professionals submitted a joint proposal to the province about adding more psychologists to primary care networks, where family doctors could refer patients the same day and in the act.
“It’s been really difficult for everyone, especially people on the front lines, especially families,” said Minister for Mental Health and Addiction Sheila Malcolmson.
“[Patients] they can receive very specific care when they are in the hospital. But what happens on the other side? We’re really determined to connect people to long-term care so that we’re not just working at a crisis level, but we’re supporting people to really get better after they leave the hospital,” he added.
The open design of the AEP area maintains “clear lines of sight”, the health authority added, which it says will allow frontline staff to more easily assess rapid changes in a patient’s physical or mental health, but will also accommodate to the need for privacy, providing a room for private patient or family meetings, and security mechanisms to protect patients and staff.
”Success is like someone coming into our health care system, in the crisis of their lives, who [patients] and their families feel on the other side that they have been treated with dignity, that they feel better, that they feel heard, and that we have been able to work with them to guide them through supports in the community to support through our health care system that it will help them improve one person at a time,” Malcolmson said.
