The province will partner with community organizations to develop a first-class, multi-agency centre to enhance supports for Manitobans living with addictions and mental-health challenges, Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross announced today.

 

“Bringing agencies together under one roof will foster collaboration between organizations and make it far easier for clients to access the addictions services and supports they need,” said Irvin-Ross.  “This new facility will help people better navigate the range of mental-health and addictions services while reducing wait times in Manitoba.”

 

The province is planning the redevelopment of the Sharon Home Kanee Centre personal-care home into a not-for-profit facility that will offer a range of mental-health addictions services.  Discussions with community-based agencies are underway to determine which agencies will be part of the new centre.

 

“This project offers a creative way of addressing the current pressures on existing residential treatment centres,” said John Borody, chief executive officer of the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba.  “Creating a spectrum of addiction and mental-health services within one facility and moving towards an integrated approach will create better access while also addressing the need for increased capacity within existing programs.”

 

The facility will unite several organizations in one centre, cutting wait lists for critical services, increasing patient access and strengthening co-operation and collaboration between treatment agencies.  The project will add 60 new treatment beds to the addictions system and provide new space for existing programs.

 

The province will work with community-based mental-health and addictions organizations to implement the project including a public rezoning process.  Stakeholder groups were consulted on the proposed location of the facility.

 

The new centre will be governed by an interim board chaired by the deputy minister of Manitoba Health while a permanent governance structure is developed.  Other members of the interim board include Dr. Brian Postl, president and chief executive officer of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Bob Brennan, president and chief executive officer of Manitoba Hydro, and Michael Kirby, chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. 

“The Mental Health Commission of Canada recognizes that collaboration between governments and service providers is a critical step in ensuring Canadians affected by mental-health and addictions challenges have access to the resources they need,” said Kirby, a former senator who chairs the commission.  “I applaud the Government of Manitoba for its announcement today and its commitment to delivering leading-edge mental-health and addictions programs and resources.”

 

Irvin-Ross also announced that Reg Toews, former chief executive officer of South Eastman Regional Health Authority and a former assistant deputy minister for mental health in Manitoba, has been engaged to undertake strategic development of the initiative under the guidance of the board of directors.

 

Agencies at the new facility will be able to increase the spaces available to provide mental-health and addictions services including adult residential addictions treatment, adult community-based addictions counselling, outreach services, adult detoxification services, adult second-stage addictions treatment, and outpatient and aftercare services. Other new services to be located at the centre will include a provincial addictions centralized access line and assessment unit.

 

Presently, the Sharon Home’s fully-accredited personal-care home has two sites – Kanee Centre in north Winnipeg and Simkin Centre in south Winnipeg.  Construction is currently underway on a $30-million expansion of the Simkin Centre site to consolidate services.  The redevelopment of the Kanee Centre site will take place after the two Sharon Home sites are consolidated.

 

“Our government has committed to building the first mental-health emergency room in Canada and has dramatically increased funding for community-based addictions treatment and support,” said Irvin-Ross.  “This investment also builds on other investments we’ve made in mental health and addictions, and is a key component of our strategic plan to enhance addictions services to Manitobans.”

 

The province’s five-point strategic plan for addictions services, Breaking the Chains of Addictions, includes:

·         building a better system by developing unified standards, modernizing legislation and enhancing training opportunities for front-line providers;

·         improving service access by providing clients the right service in the right place at the right time;

·         increasing residential treatment capacity by creating a multi-agency facility in Winnipeg;

·         building community-based treatment capacity by reaching the under-served population by investing in a wide range of community-based treatment options; and

·         enhancing addiction research by developing strategic research plans to support research into addictions issues.

 

For more information on the province’s five-point strategic plan for addictions services, visit www.gov.mb.ca/healthyliving/mh/plan.html.

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