Mental Health & Addictions Redevelopment Project

Mental Health and Addictions Acute Care Facilities

The government is replacing the Hillsborough Hospital, the Island's only psychiatric facility, to ensure the province is well equipped to handle islanders in need of acute MH&A care in a new, modern, fully accessible, MH&A Acute Care Facility and Life Skills Centre.

Background

The current Hillsborough Hospital was built in 1957 and needs to be replaced by a facility to better meet the Mental Health and Addiction needs of Islanders. This work includes:

  • creating a welcoming and inclusive environment based on best practices and evidence-based research;
  • addressing issues of stigma in the built environment;
  • improving patient safety, accessibility and privacy;
  • increasing opportunities for supported learning and wellness development for clients and patients;
  • increasing opportunities for local and regional research and professional education;
  • sustainable energy efficiency facility design.

Service

The new Mental Health and Addictions Acute Care Facility/Life Skills Centre is an essential component of the future Community-First Mental Health and Addictions Island-wide service delivery model. This new hospital will consolidate the adult acute mental health beds from the current Hillsborough Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH, Unit 9) along with the Addictions Withdrawal Management beds from the Provincial Addictions Treatment Facility (PATF) into one new modern facility. This service will acknowledge and honour diverse cultural, social, and gender backgrounds and experiences.

The acute adult MH&A capacity at the Prince County Hospital (PCH) will be retained and enhanced as part of the new Island-wide service delivery model.

Result

  • New fully accessible, Acute MH&A Hospital to meet the needs of a diverse patient population with serious mental and/or addiction illness
  • 12 space adult partial hospitalization program (PHP)
  • A Life Skills Development Centre to assist clients and patients in gaining more inclusive everyday skills and wellness development
  • Professional education and research area
  • Access to parklands, recreational and active transportation opportunities for enhanced health and wellness

Benefits

  • A new, modern, fully accessible, MH&A Acute Care Facility and Life Skills Centre that provides:
    • an interdisciplinary care delivery model;
    • enabled by supporting technologies;
    • facilitated by optimally designed spaces to allow the right care with access to both indoor and outdoor recreation and healing opportunities
  • Improves access to care and reduces wait times
  • Improves patient and client privacy and accessibility
  • Reduces the need to transfer patients between the QEH and the MH&A Acute Care Facility
  • Supports the use of virtual medicine by implementing state-of-the-art technology
  • Allows teams to work more closely on patient care
  • Provides a modern, state-of-the-art facility for health professionals to work in and care for patients and clients while improving the capacity to recruit and retain MH&A professionals
  • Improves provincial and regional MH&A research and teaching opportunities

MH&A Child and Youth Acute Care Unit

Background

The province of PEI has a growing number of mental health services and programs for children and youth, including a small acute inpatient unit adjacent to adult services. It has been identified that this unit requires a larger, purpose built, dedicated space that includes age appropriate recreation, play and programming space. The planning will ensure individuals under the age of 18 in need of acute MH&A care have access to appropriate space that is aligned to support their cognitive, behavioural, psychosocial, and educational needs. This service will be located at the QEH in Charlottetown.

This work includes:

  • creating age appropriate, welcoming and inclusive environments based on best practices and evidence-based research;
  • age appropriate play/recreation/exercise space for those accessing acute MH&A care;
  • addressing issues of stigma in the built environment;
  • improving patient safety, accessibility and privacy;
  • increasing opportunities for supported learning and wellness development for clients and patients;
  • increasing opportunities for local and regional research and professional education

Service

The child and youth mental health and addictions inpatient services will support patients with serious mental and/or addiction illness that require a higher level of acute care services than can be provided within a community- based care setting. Strategies to transition patients to the community will be the primary objective for most patients, around which the care plans will be structured. While in the hospital, patients will receive assessment, treatment and rehabilitative services, and will be supported by an interprofessional care team providing consultation and specialty services to meet the needs of patients. Programs and spaces will be available to support inpatients within the context of their family (e.g., visiting spaces, technologies to virtually connect patients and their families or community care providers). This service will acknowledge and honour diverse cultural, social, and gender backgrounds and experiences.

Result

  • A new, dividable, 6 bed, fully accessible, MH&A Child and Youth Acute Care Unit
  • A secure, outdoor, age appropriate play area

Benefits

  • A new, modern, fully accessible, MH&A Child and Youth Acute Care unit that provides:
    • an interdisciplinary care delivery model;
    • enabled by supporting technologies;
    • facilitated by optimally designed spaces to allow the right care with access to both indoor and outdoor recreation and healing opportunities
  • A built environment for children and youth designed to support age and developmental appropriate medical, cognitive, behavioral, psychosocial, and educational needs
  • Improves access to care and reduces wait times
  • Improves patient and client privacy and accessibility
  • Supports the use of virtual medicine by implementing state-of-the-art technology
  • Allows teams to work more closely on patient care
  • Provides a modern, state-of-the-art facility for health professionals to work in and care for patients and clients while improving the capacity to recruit and retain MH&A professionals

Prince County Hospital (PCH) Enhanced Psychiatric Unit Renovation

Background

The PCH currently has and will continue to have a 14 bed psychiatric acute care unit. To ensure continuity of Acute MH&A care across the province, this unit will be updated.

This section will be updated as more information becomes available.

MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS
Programs and Services