Montfort opens new Mental Health Emergency Zone
Ottawa, November 5, 2024 — Patients in need of urgent mental health care now benefit from a dedicated space within Montfort’s Emergency Department; today the hospital inaugurated a new Mental Health Emergency Zone, in response to growing demand in the community. This is the first service of its kind in the region.
The Montfort Emergency Department receives proportionally twice as many visits for mental health reasons as other hospitals in Ottawa and the province. Until now, these visits have taken place in Emergency rooms and stretchers, a space that is often anxiety-inducing and not well suited to providing mental health care. Now, the Mental Health Emergency Zone offers a calm and safe environment, enabling personalized care for patients, who can begin their recovery during their visit to the Emergency Department.
“The area is designed to feel a lot less like an emergency room, which promotes patient well-being,” explains Dr. Kristine Levesque, Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Psychiatry at Montfort. “The highlight of this zone are the two sensory rooms, with bean bags, music, adjustable lights and windows that have a view of the outside. This new space is specially created to reduce stress, facilitate the relationship between the care team and patients, and contribute to their recovery.”
“This space allows us to strengthen collaboration between the mental health and emergency teams,” says Dr. Francis Dubé, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Montfort. “In this unique environment, we’ll be able to work in an integrated manner to provide quality care and promote positive outcomes for our patients.”
During triage, upon arrival to the Emergency Department, patients requiring mental health care will be directed to the Mental Health Emergency Zone. The zone can accommodate up to 10 patients, in four rooms and six comfortable waiting spaces. The space also includes a shower and bathroom dedicated to patients in this zone, as well as a secure workstation for the care team.
From the moment they visit the Mental Health Emergency Zone, patients will be able to benefit from a service trajectory tailored to their needs. They may be admitted to the Mental Health Program for a hospital stay, if necessary, or referred to community services.
“Today, we’re inaugurating a new care space, but we’re also adopting an integrated approach, in collaboration with our partners from the Archipel Ontario Health Team, who have implemented simplified and streamlined trajectories for patients returning to the community,” explains Valérie Dubois Desroches, senior vice-president responsible for patient care at Montfort. “Together, we have taken an important step towards improving mental health, for healthy communities.”
“Our community needs care, our community needs us, and we’re answering the call,” concluded Montfort’s president and CEO, Dominic Giroux. “Once again, Montfort is firmly committed to the health and well-being of the communities we serve.”
The Mental Health Emergency Zone opens its doors following the completion of a two-million-dollar renovation project launched in May and funded entirely by the Montfort Foundation. On October 21, the Montfort Emergency Department was designated in the name of local business Richcraft Homes, in recognition of the leadership donation made by its owners, the Singhal family, to the Montfort Foundation’s fundraising campaign for the new Mental Health Emergency Zone project.
