$2 million in new funding for mental health services was announced Friday morning in Cambridge.
The money comes from the Waterloo-Wellington Local Health Integration Network, and includes funding for 12 new spots to house people with “severe and persistent” issues related to mental health or addictions.
Other areas addressed by the funding include community-based counselling services, in-community treatment for people with severe mental health or addictions issues, and an extension of the current mobile crisis team into Guelph and Wellington County – an item which Guelph MPP Liz Sandals said she was “especially pleased” to see.
“These crisis teams which put health care workers … in police cars with officers when they respond to a mental health emergency are a welcome addition to our existing programs because they address problems before they reach a crisis stage,” she said in a news release.
According to the LHIN, all these services had previously been deemed high priorities.
“It’s about doing things differently and getting even better results,” LHIN CEO Bruce Lauckner said in the release.
“Police officers, nurses and social workers are working in new and different wants to address problems before they become a concern for police or the health system.”
