For Immediate Release                                                            

May 19 , 2006

McGuinty government EXPANDS COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Invests $1,464,946 To Benefit More Residents in Kingston and The Islands

KINGSTON – The McGuinty government is investing $1,464,946 to improve access to community-based mental health services for people in Kingston MPP John Gerretsen announced today on behalf of Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman.

“This investment will make sure additional resources are in place so that our residents can receive the services and treatments they need right here in our community,” Gerretsen said. “Our government is on the side of Ontario families who want and deserve the very best health care, including access to quality mental health and addiction treatment services.”

The funding announced today includes:

• $454,000 for community-based services, including crisis response, early intervention in psychosis and Assertive Community Treatment Teams
• $456,833 to create 32 supporting housing units
• $185,280 to increase the base budget in local community mental health agencies by 1.5 per cent
• $368,833 for community-based services to help more people with mental illness stay out of the criminal justice and correctional systems. This includes 8 additional supportive housing units

This new investment is part of the government’s unprecedented four year, $185-million plan to help people with mental illness benefit from expanded services and to stabilize existing services.

“With this investment, more people will receive care from professionals and other care providers they know and trust, closer to home,” Smitherman said.  “Our new funding recognizes the need for a wide range of community-based services to be in place for people with mental illness.”

This is just the latest example of how the McGuinty government is on the side of Ontario families concerned about access to mental health care and addiction treatment services. Other initiatives include:

• Expanding hospital and community-based forensic mental health services for people in the criminal court system who are mentally ill and require those services
• Establishing an external task force to provide advice to the government on how to improve methadone treatment in Ontario
• Transferring the management and operation of provincial psychiatric hospitals to local public hospitals to allow more local control over services to ensure they meeting community needs.

Today’s initiative is part of the McGuinty government’s plan for innovation in public health care, building a system that delivers on three priorities - keeping Ontarians healthy, reducing wait times and providing better access to doctors and nurses.

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For more information contact:
John Gerretsen, MPP
547-2385