VANCOUVER -- A new mental health centre has opened in the Lower Mainland, offering outpatient care, 75 inpatient beds and a specialized unit for seniors.
The wellness centre is located at New Westminster's Royal Columbian Hospital and has more than double the inpatient beds of the hospital's former psychiatry facility. According to Fraser Health, with 45 additional beds, the centre will be able to treat 800 more inpatients each year.
"For too long, children, youth and adults living with mental health and substance use challenges have struggled to get quick access to the supports they need and deserve," said Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy in a news release.
"The new Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre is a wonderful healing space with 75 beds and several new and expanded outpatient clinics to support people on their healing journey."
The centre's outpatient services include a mood disorder clinic, expanded adolescent psychiatry services, reproductive psychiatry and urgent psychiatric referral.
It's also the first centre in the Fraser Health region to offer a specific unit for seniors dealing with acute depression, anxiety or psychosis.
A new electroconvulsive therapy offers neurostimulation treatment, which B.C.'s health ministry says provides relief to people with neurologic and psychiatric disorders and chronic pain through electrical signals.
There are also expanded addiction services.
"Our Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre will expand our capacity in-hospital, but will also ensure much-needed outpatient services are available to people who need them now and in the years to come," said Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO of Fraser Health, in a news release.
The centre is opening in phases, with outpatient services launching first on July 13.
