On World Mental Health Day today, Southlake Regional Health Centre is celebrating having served more than 180 patients in its new adult inpatient mental health unit that opened last February.
The 12-bed unit and expanded space has enabled Southlake to increase group therapy and make other programming available to patients during their inpatient stay, guaranteeing access to these therapies earlier in the recovery journey, according to a Southlake news release.
“Before the new unit opened, Southlake did not have any private patient rooms available on the general inpatient mental health unit,” said Stella Johnson, director, emergency and mental health program at Southlake. “Now, the new unit has 12 private patient rooms available, allowing us to positively impact the patient’s experience and stay. Improved access to natural light and group therapy spaces on the new unit has also contributed to overall enhanced inpatient mental health visits at Southlake.”
The added capacity provided through the new inpatient mental health unit enables Southlake to serve more than 2,000 patients each year across 41 dedicated mental health beds.
Since the unit opened, patients, family members, staff, advisors and community partners have expressed the positive impact the new space has had for people living with mental illness, the hospital release stated.
“On multiple occasions, we have received heartfelt thank yous and words of appreciation from both our patients and our family members,” said Brandon Brown, clinical manager, adult inpatient mental health. “Our patients are grateful, our staff feel supported to provide the best care and our community partners appreciate the thought that went into their role in the patient journey when we created the space. It has truly been incredible to see the impact space can make.”
"Southlake continues to leverage an incredible local community of mental health partners to support patients after discharge through outpatient supports in the community. More than 120 of the 186 patients who have received care on Southlake’s new unit have been discharged home with the appropriate community supports they need," the hospital stated.
The new unit was made possible with $7.5 million in donor support and $6.5 million from the Ontario government.
