| Alberta returns to “dark ages” of mental health care. National association says Klein government out of step with the rest of Canada.
For Immediate Release
March 3, 2000 - Alberta’s plans to rebuild its psychiatric hospitals is a “regressive step to a dark ages solution” said the Canadian Mental Health Association’s National President Bill Gaudette following a unanimous resolution by the Association’s National Board of Directors in Toronto.
According to Mr. Gaudette,“other provinces are working at mental health reform by building “community capacity” with homes, jobs, outreach, crisis service and in-patient care at the local level.” In contrast, Alberta will spend more than $150 million dollars reconstructing psychiatric hospitals built in 1911 at Ponoka (Health Minister Jonson’s constituency) and in 1923 at Oliver north of Edmonton.” “The Alberta government’s own reports spanning more than 70 years have called for the downsizing of institutions and the development of community support services,” said Mr. Gaudette. “As far back as 1928, a report by Dr. Clare Hincks stated “in the old days the asylum was placed in outlying districts…not necessarily in the interests of the afflicted.” A dozen similar reports have said the same thing over the decades
As recently as 1998, the Alberta Government’s Health Council recommended “no new capital expenditures to rebuild psychiatric hospitals” and criticized the lack of a “whole life focus,” the confusion of roles, the lack of integration and “insufficient funding.”
Under the Alberta Government’s proposed plans, Mr. Gaudette notes “ capital (construction) costs are repeated every two years in operating costs and the commitment will utilize every available dollar for years to come. There are no new dollars for community programs. The Alberta Health Budget, released with “great fanfare” on February 24, projected an increase of $482 million in health spending for the coming fiscal year, of which only $5 million is earmarked “community mental health care”, a repackaging of a 1999 announcement.”
CMHA’s Chair of the National Advocacy Committee, Mary Martin-Rowe of Toronto, says “Alberta’s commitment to modernize the mental health system has stalled. The Alberta Government’s 1995 Mental Health Business Plan was a cutting edge model for the rest of Canada. The plan has collapsed under the weight of politics .”
The Canadian Mental Health Association is calling on Premier Ralph Klein to delay any hospital reconstruction and re-commit to a system of community based care including in-patient care on a regional basis.
The Canadian Mental Health Association is Canada’s oldest and largest mental health voluntary agency with Divisions in all Provinces and 135 Branches across the country. For more information contact:
Bill Gaudette National President tel: (780)-428-2060
Mary Martin-Rowe, National Chair, Advocacy Committee tel: (416)-408-2121 ext. 2223
Dennis Anderson, Alberta President (780)-434-2146
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