Labour shortage preventing expansion of mental health, addiction services

Labour shortage preventing the expansion of mental health and addictions treatment services: premier

Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction on the former Riverview Hospital lands in Coquitlam. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Building something is the easy part, as operating something you’ve just opened is the real challenge.

That summarizes BC Premier David Eby’s answer when asked today about the provincial government’s progress on expanding mental health and addictions treatment programs.

“The biggest challenge we face is not a willingness to fund or a desire to get things done. The biggest challenge is the staffing to deliver those beds. It’s not the physical bed, it’s the staff member or the person who is providing the support to ensure the success,” said Eby during the final day of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention.

“Our biggest challenge is the personnel to be able to deliver the programs we want to be able to deliver. The psychiatric nurses, the psychiatrists, the addiction doctors… These are big challenges for us to be able to deliver programming.”

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Eby explained the provincial government’s short-term strategy to mitigate the labour shortage is to try to get internationally credentialed doctors through the system faster, such as “return of service” agreements in under-served areas, and covering the cost of the assessments and courses for nurses so that they can get to work sooner than later.

They are also working with post-secondary institutions to try to steer more people into such careers, but the potential results will not be seen until the longer term.

Also, the premier noted they are optimizing the use of their existing trained resources, such as providing certifications for people who would work under the supervision of professionals.

“Do we need a registered psychiatric nurse in every situation? Do we need an addictions doctor in every situation? Can we use social workers more effective? Could there be a certificate program so that we can get more people deployed for this care?” he said.

However, such a shortage of professionals for mental health and addictions treatment services is part of the broader shortage of healthcare workers, especially in post-pandemic conditions. For example, earlier this year, the provincial government announced significant new funding to expand cancer screening and treatment services, which is also primarily a labour issue.

Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction Riverview Coquitlam

Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction on the former Riverview Hospital lands in Coquitlam. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The labour challenge also impacts the ability of the provincial government, healthcare providers, and non-profit housing operators to provide adequate levels of trained professionals to provide actual support for residents living in supportive housing.

There has been some criticism that the supportive housing model lacks adequately trained staff to carry out the range of promised services, which was highlighted in a recent report on Maple Ridge supportive housing sites.

In recent years, the provincial government has also rolled out the new complex-care housing model, which builds on the supportive housing model by providing significant wrap-around support services — including healthcare, mental health, and addictions treatment.

In February, the provincial government’s 2023 budget set aside $876 million in new funding for mental health and addictions treatment services over three fiscal years, including $199 million in 2023/2024, $297 million in 2024/2025, and $371 million in 2025/2026. Amongst many different programs, the budget provides new funding for more supportive housing with complex care services.

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