Prince George city council is backing the push by Prince George psychiatrist Dr. Barb Kane to create a psychiatric hospital in northern BC to alleviate some of the stress mental health and addictions patients are putting on local hospital facilities in the region.
At Monday’s meeting, council followed the lead of the two major BC political parties to endorse involuntary care options for people with mental health issues and substance use disorders as part of its five-point plan.
Councillors Trudi Klassen, Garth Frizzell and Kyle Sampson agreed to amalgamate two separate mental health motions put forward at the Oct. 7 council meeting. The revised motion approved Monday includes:
Advocacy campaign: Council would direct the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee to spearhead a strategic campaign advocating for the provincial government to fund the building and ongoing operational costs of a dedicated psychiatric care facility in Prince George. This standalone facility would provide care for individuals facing complex psychiatric, addiction and mental health challenges.
Legislation for involuntary admission: Council would also call for provincial legislation to facilitate involuntary admission to a specialized compassionate care facility for individuals in crisis who may not recognize their own need for treatment. This legislation aims to ensure that those at risk of self-harm or harm to others receive the necessary care in specialized facilities.
Support for local advocacy: Council would endorse Kane’s petition. The online and paper petitions have so far gathered nearly 4,000 signatures.
Communications strategy: Administration would be tasked with developing a communications plan in collaboration with the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee to promote the endorsement of Kane’s petition and encourage other local governments in Northern BC to join in the advocacy efforts.
Regional engagement: Council would direct staff to forward the resolutions to the Northern Central Local Government Association (NCLGA) and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) as part of the advocacy and communications strategy.
Both major BC political parties indicated support for involuntary admissions in the lead-up to Saturday’s election.
On Sept. 15, the NDP government promised to expand involuntary care for people with mental health and addictions issues. Those patients would be detained in highly secure facilities in mental health units at correctional facilities or housed at less-secure regional long-term care facilities throughout the province.
That came four days after BC Conservative Leader John Rustad announced his party’s commitment to involuntary treatment for people who pose a risk to themselves or others. He highlighted the need of forced detainment centres for individuals, especially children suffering from severe addictions to drugs or alcohol.
Klassen, who co-authored one of the Oct. 7 mental health motions with Frizzell, endorsed four of the five council recommendations but voted against involuntary care.
“The Mental Health Act hasn’t been updated since I think the ‘70s and so currently, prisoners have more rights than mental health patients do,” said Klassen.
“I would feel it’s inappropriate for us to call for increased involuntary care treatment when we haven’t even had voluntary treatment options accessible and reliably available. I think we should be advocating for more voluntary care before we begin to advocate for increased involuntary admittance.”
Sampson, who forwarded the other Oct. 7 motion, told council there are more psychiatric treatment care beds coming to UHNBC once the new acute care tower is built. When that opens, sometime in 2030, the hospital will increase its psychiatric bed capacity from 36 to 83, including 11 youth assessment beds, 36 adult beds, four grief intervention beds and 32 withdrawal management beds.
“We’ll have some expanded resources in the hospital and this advocacy will hopefully champion some longer-term care once people are diagnosed and put into programs that will best suit them,” Sampson said.
Kane has suggested the Prince George Youth Custody Centre that was closed permanently on March 31 be converted to a mental health hospital.
Coun. Brian Skakun, the acting mayor at Monday's meeting, said considering the urgency of the opioid crisis, which claims the lives of six British Columbians per day, it only makes sense to utilize that dormant building.
“It’s basically sitting there empty and we have youth on the street that are dying with a number of mental health issues, so we have to fast-track this,” said Skakun. “The city can push all we want, but I think the province has got to say we’re going to spend some money on this and get people in there.
“It’s long overdue. Every month that there’s a delay in opening some type of facility we’re losing so many youth. So we’re going to push as hard as we can to make sure there’s going to be funding, that the Lheidli T’enneh and First Nations are involved and that we get a service provider and we get going. But in the end it’s going to be up to the province.”
- with Citizen files from Kennedy Gordon
