Pilot project aims to treat Montreal mental health patients at home, not the ER
Quebec is hoping to expand on a new model of care for patients in the emergency room experiencing a mental health crisis.
The model has been in place at Notre-Dame Hospital in Montreal for several months, and on Monday, Health and Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant announced a plan to expand the measures to other hospitals.
A "brief intervention team" will now care for patients in crisis who need to be stabilized.
The measure, said Carmant, will free up beds for more severe psychiatric cases.
"They can have 48 to 72 hours in a unit of intensive short intervention, so you can avoid hospitalization," he said.
The goal is to make hospitalization a last resort.
All patients leaving the hospital receive follow-up care in the community to ensure no one falls through the cracks.
Those who need it can have access to a measure called "psychiatric home hospitalization," where the patient will be visited at their home by a nurse, a psychiatrist, or social worker up to three times a day for six to eight weeks.
"It can prevent long hospitalization and can help the team as well observe what's happening at the house of the patients. And it leads to a better interaction between family and the treating team," explained Carmant.
Quebec Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant (Christinne Muschi / The Canadian Press)
The pilot project started at in January, and Notre-Dame Hospital said about 90 per cent of those receiving home care did not return to the ER.
The care people receive is also more targeted, explained Dr. Cedric Andres, chief of psychiatry at the Notre-Dame Hospital.
"We are treating the right patient at the right moment, at the right place. This is the difference. So the quality of the care is vastly increased," he said.
Advocates in Quebec have often criticized a lack of mental health resources and long wait times.
Notre-Dame recruited about 10 employees for its brief intervention team and another 40 for its home hospitalization team.
Notre-Dame Hospital in Montreal (CTV News)
Carmant said he's optimistic other hospitals will be able to do the same.
"Well, those are innovative initiatives which lead to recruitment. People are excited about these new programs. And the team here did an unbelievable team and unbelievable work and being able to recruit, without decreasing services elsewhere," he said.
Carmant said he hopes to eventually expand programs like these to hospitals throughout the province.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Case against ex-Mountie charged with helping China can go ahead in Quebec, judge says
A Quebec court judge has ruled that the case against a former RCMP officer charged with helping China conduct foreign interference can go ahead in the province.
Steve Albini, legendary producer for Nirvana, the Pixies and an alternative rock pioneer, dies at 61
Steve Albini, an alternative rock pioneer and legendary producer who shaped the musical landscape through his work with Nirvana, the Pixies, PJ Harvey and more, has died. He was 61.
Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, will plead guilty in betting case
The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has agreed to plead guilty to bank and tax fraud in a sports betting case in which prosecutors allege he stole nearly US$17 million from the Japanese baseball player to pay off debts, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.