The B.C. government has announced it will expand involuntary care for those with mental health and addictions issues, and will open “highly secure” facilities to house people detained under the Mental Health Act throughout the province.
Premier David Eby announced Sunday that the government would open mental health units at correctional facilities throughout the province, as well as regional facilities that would provide long-term care and housing for those with mental health needs.
The first dedicated mental health unit will be set up at Surrey Pretrial Centre, according to the province. The first regional mental health facility will be built on the grounds of the Alouette Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge.
As part of his public safety pitch, one week before the official start of B.C.’s election period, Eby said the moves would help those with brain injuries, mental illnesses and severe addiction.
“We’re going to respond to people struggling like any family member would,” Eby said in a statement to media. “We are taking action to get them the care they need to keep them safe, and in doing so, keep our communities safe, too.”
As part of the announcement, the province said that many people with mental health and addictions issues are in and out of the correctional and health-care systems without getting appropriate care.
Eby, who was joined by representatives of the Musqueam Indian Band and Squamish Nation and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, said that the province would be adding more mental health treatment beds in hospitals as part of their approach.
The premier’s promise comes three months after he appointed Dr. Daniel Vigo as B.C.’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders.
The government says it will be releasing “clarifications” from Vigo on how he believes the Mental Health Act can be used to provide voluntary and involuntary care when people have disorders alongside addiction.
Advocates say involuntary treatment ineffective
Involuntary treatment is allowed under B.C.’s Mental Health Act; a person can be detained in a psychiatric facility if a doctor deems it necessary for their health and safety, as well as the safety of others.
However, advocates have said that involuntary care for those with drug addictions is often not helpful, with one study showing that people were at a higher risk of drug overdose after being discharged from compulsory treatment.
“Involuntary treatment or forced care [is] not effective and does not help people, and is an extremely traumatic experience, which actually drives people away from the health care system,” said Tyson Singh Kelsall, an outreach worker in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and a PhD candidate in Simon Fraser University’s faculty of health sciences.
As the provincial election approaches, the poison drug crisis is top of mind. The B.C. Conservative Party has promised to use involuntary treatment for those experiencing severe addictions if it wins the October election. Tyson Singh Kelsall is a social worker and PhD candidate in SFU’s faculty of health sciences. He joins Dan Burritt to unpack the issues surrounding involuntary treatment.
In an interview before the Sunday announcement, Kelsall said that the building of new facilities to house those detained under involuntary care was distracting from a health-care crisis in the province.
He said that the province should be focused on interventions like affordable housing, regulating the drug supply and increasing welfare rates instead.
“We need to ask if we’re starting something new, if we’re doing a new policy, if we’re building new facilities, why don’t we start with something that people actually want … that we benefit from?” Kelsall said.
In previous comments, Eby said there’s still a place for involuntary care in B.C., but “warehousing people” isn’t enough without adequate support that “hopefully helps them get back on their own feet.”Â
Province mulls developing Riverview site
As part of his public safety pitch, Eby said that the province was in discussions with the Kwikwetlem First Nation over its claim to the land on which the former Riverview Hospital for those with mental health issues sits.
The government says that it is working on plans for a future redevelopment of the Riverview site as part of those discussions, which could potentially settle the nation’s claim to the land.
In the wake of downtown Vancouver’s two random attacks that left one victim dead and the other severely injured, supporting individuals experiencing mental health challenges while keeping the public safe is top of mind. Marina Morrow, chair of the school of health policy and management at York University, joins Dan Burritt to discuss the recurring discussion around reopening the hospital to a greater capacity.
The controversial mental health facility in Coquitlam was closed in 2012 after numerous scandals, including allegations of forced sterilization and electroshock therapy.
