MH&A changes in Vancouver Community will increase targeted care to those who need it

Vancouver Community is embarking upon a service redesign to develop and augment existing MH&A programs in support of a changing client base, including a growing population of clients with concurrent disorders.

The merger of our Concurrent Disorders program with our Outpatient Psychiatry Team was necessary to streamline access and improve care coordination for clients who require both mental health and addiction services.

“Wherever possible we want all our services to be nimble and flexible in order that we can provide care for clients who have both a mental illness and an addiction,” said Laura Case, Executive Director, Vancouver Community. “Changes to the Cross Cultural Team will allow for integration with the Outpatient Cross Cultural Program at VGH in order to streamline access and reduce redundancies in our system.”

To facilitate this redesign, displacement notices were issued to staff on Tuesday across existing Concurrent Disorders, Cross Cultural teams, and some staff at some or our community mental health and addiction teams. All resources will remain within the MH&A service portfolio, and replacement positions will be posted shortly.

Clients currently receiving care from these teams will have transition plans put in place to ensure they continue to receive the services they need. This redesign will allow us to create greater access for more clients, more coordination and integration between our MH&A services, and more evidence-based intervention. The evidence tells us to combine our services and, where possible, provide both mental health and addiction services under one roof.

“We cannot say that no further changes are forthcoming in 2014,” said Case. “Our review and streamlining of services, and aligning with best practice will continue to be necessary throughout the coming year as we strive to provide the best clinical care for clients within a finite resource base.”