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LONDON -
Workers at the London Mental Health Centre are
concerned that their patients could find
themselves without care as the region realigns
mental health services, including a potential
reduction of as many as 80 beds.
May 11 the
hospital announced 50 beds were moving to
Kitchener at the end of the summer. While about
half of the beds are occupied by patients from
the Kitchener area, there is no certainty that
many will want to return to the area. Further,
the other half will either find they are further
from home, or be without appropriate care.
There has
been no assurance that those who wish to
transfer will not be given first priority over
patients in the Kitchener area, many who have
been on a waiting list for placement.
“While the
Local Health Integration Network talks about
moving patients closer to home, that is not the
case in this transfer,” says Warren (Smokey)
Thomas, President of the 130,000-member Ontario
Public Service Employees Union. “They are moving
from a 441-bed facility to a new 156-bed
facility in 2015. That means they will be
scrambling to move more patients either into
insufficient community-based services or out of
the community altogether.”
The union is
concerned that with realignment, there are
between 70-80 beds that will not be replaced.
This is despite the fact that the province has
already met its deinstitutionalization target of
35 beds per 100,000 people. In the province’s
original Health Services Restructuring Plan,
strong community supports were to be in place –
60 per cent of mental health funding was to be
directed towards community-based agencies.
However, in the 2008 auditor’s report, only $39
was being spent in the community for every $61
spent on institutionalized care.
OPSEU also
cautions that patients on the psycho-geriatric
unit cannot be easily transferred to another
non-specialized unit.
“These
workers have lengthy experience in dealing with
a specialized clientele that can be violent and
pose a threat to other patients. Many have other
health symptoms related to aging. They cannot be
easily absorbed into other units,”
said Thomas.
The union is
wondering what will happen now that the two
affected units will be closing their doors to
new admissions before any alternatives can be
put in place. |
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For more information:
Kim McDowell, President OPSEU Local 152 at 519-765-8660.
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