Regan Anderson, the CEO of Wayside House of Hamilton and AMHO member, was recognized October 24 at Health Quality Transformation for his dedicated leadership and commitment to person-centered care.
The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Dr. Eric Hoskins, presented Anderson with the Minister’s Medal Honouring Excellence in Health Quality and Safety, emphasizing that “to say Regan is committed to improving the mental health and addiction system is an understatement.”
“It’s impossible to not feel incredibly inspired after hearing Regan speak about his work,” said Gail Czukar, CEO of Addictions and Mental Health Ontario. “At a time when we are facing an unprecedented addiction crisis in this province, this award sends an important message –that people with addiction matter and addiction services matter.”
“Regan’s tremendous commitment and passion are exemplary and he deserves this award. But he is too professional to say what I will say – that the incredible work he does cannot be sustained on passion and personal sacrifice alone. It also takes resources, and more are needed.”
Read more here.
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Check out the video testimonial for Regan's award:
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The call for proposals is now open for agencies and networks wishing to implement a Youth Wellness Hub in their own community. This is an important opportunity for our youth serving agencies to partner and improve access to services and supports for Ontario’s young people. Proposals will be assessed against detailed criteria as well as community need and readiness for implementation.
YWHO is the new entity that has been created to deliver on the government's commitment to support up to nine integrated service hubs for youth. At these hubs, young people between the ages of 12 and 25 will be able to receive walk-in mental health and substance use services, as well as other health, social, and employment supports all under one roof.
More details about the program and the application process is available online here.
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You won't want to miss this year's AGM and Community of Practice meetings, taking place November 6 and 7 at the Doubletree by Hilton Downtown Toronto (108 Chestnut Street).
Program highlights include:
- Workshop for front-line providers on inter-agency and inter-departmental collaboration with Todd Leader, author of "It's not about us: the secret to transforming the mental health and addiction system in Canada"
- Leadership Forum for CEOs and EDs of AMHO member organizations
- Plenary on Structured Psychotherapy
- Update on Track 1 and Track 2 from the Ministry and program leaders
- Community of practice meetings (agendas here)
- Community treatment
- Withdrawal management
- Youth treatment
- Supportive housing
- Residential treatment
- Report back from HQO on the opioid quality standards
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On October 20, AMHO's CEO Gail Czukar presented our budget recommendations to the Federal Standing Committee on Finance (FINA).
This year's pre-budget consultation asked Canadians to share their recommendations on how to build more productive workplaces and communities. AMHO members see firsthand the impact of mental illness and addiction on productivity and the health of our communities. Each week, 500,000 Canadians will miss work due to a mental health or addiction issue, and the Conference Board of Canada has estimated that untreated mental illness and addiction costs the Canadian economy upwards of $50 billion a year.
AMHO asked the federal government to step up and be a strong partner in mental health and addiction, and offered the following four recommendations:
- Invest in our communities;
- Partner with Indigenous Communities on mental health and addiction;
- Prevent the opioid crisis from continuing to worsen in Ontario; and,
- Target investments from the National Housing Fund into supportive housing for those with mental health and addiction issues.
The Health Accord investments in mental health and addiction are a welcome start. But Ontario currently spends only 6.8% of our healthcare budget on addiction and mental health. Other jurisdictions invest at least 9 to 10%, and the UK 13%. The Mental Health Commission of Canada recommends increasing investments to a minimum of 9%. In Ontario, at current health spending levels, the health transfer in year 5 will bring mental health and addiction spending up to 7.3% of the total health budget. - an improvement, but we still have a long way to go.
Click here to read our detailed federal pre-budget recommendations.
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Health Quality Ontario is developing a quality standard for schizophrenia care in the community, outlining for patients and clinicians what quality care looks like. This quality standard addresses care provided in the community, through settings like primary care, outpatient clinics and programs, rehabilitation, and community supports.
You can view the draft standards here, and complete the feedback survey here by November 2.
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This year, AMHO is proud to be participating in an exciting initiative called Change Day, which runs from now until November 17. Change Day Ontario, run by HQO Ontario and partners, invites and empowers people in the healthcare system to make a “Change Day Pledge” as to how they can improve quality, compassionate care.
See what other people are pledging, and make your pledge online at: www.changedayontario.ca
Make sure to tag @AMHOnt in your social posts about your pledges!
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The Excellence through Quality Improvement Project (E-QIP) is designed to support Ontario’s addictions and mental health providers to do what they do best – provide quality care and treatment to people who are often at the most vulnerable point in their life.
There are six free EQIP webinars available for viewing at any time, covering topics such as:
- Supporting a QI culture
- Using the OCAN for QI
- QI and the OPOC tool
- The role of data in QI
Check out the webinars here.
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