Montreal General Hospital upgrades short-term psychiatric care

In the past, if a patient came to the Montreal General with a psychiatric issue, they'd be sent to the main ER, where they'd wait shoulder-to-shoulder with up to four other patients while waiting for a consultation or to be admitted, said Dr. Nadia Szkrumelak, head of the department of psychiatry at the McGill University Health Centre.  

If it was busy, the extra patients would spill over into the hall.

That created major problems, said Pina La Riccia, the hospital's associate director of nursing. 

"We'd always have eight to nine patients at a time… which really wasn't ideal because some of the patients were agitated or anxious and really, this was not the best care for them, having them in the corridor," La Riccia said.

Now patients will be seen in a secure section of the hospital where they will be treated by specialized staff with greater confidentiality, said Szkrumelak.

She said the renovations were done after a study of 900 psychiatric cases in the ER made it clear the hospital needed a better place to deal with people in crisis and a better way to follow patients as they return to day-to-day life.

La Riccia and Szkrumelak said the upgraded facility, as well as the specialized staff, have vastly improved patients' experiences to date.

Dedicated staff to help patients leaving the short-term facility readapt to their lives and communities have also made a noticeable difference, Szkrumelak said.

Source: CBC NEWS/Montreal