Increasing mental health, addictions support
HALDIMAND—First announced in 2021 by then-Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo, the Mobile Mental Health and Addictions Clinic run by Southcoast Wellness Haldimand and Norfolk (formerly CAMHS) has moved from a pilot project to an annually funded program.
Locally the clinic is available in Cayuga Wednesdays, Hagersville Fridays, Townsend as needed, and out of Southcoast locations in Dunnville and Caledonia. It is staffed by two therapists, a counsellor, and a system’s navigator who have served over 500 people to date.
Haldimand and Norfolk were initially selected as one of four pilot areas in the province to host such a clinic through the Provincial Roadmap to Wellness Initiative, meant to bolster access to critical services in rural locations.
Southcoast CEO Bill Helmeczi said an evaluation was completed on the pilot phase by the provincially run Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence in summer 2024, which utilized clinical outcomes, satisfaction surveys, and staff and client focus groups to review potential ongoing funding for the clinic.
According to Helmeczi, that report revealed the clinic has been “extremely well received,” and provided services “people wouldn’t have known how to get without having the pilot site located in their rural community.”
Ema Popovic, Press Secretary for Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, said the move to annualized funding in Haldimand was undertaken to “ensure people in the region have uninterrupted access to the critical support and care the clinic provides.”
Popovic touted the $3.8 billion planned investment into the Roadmap to Wellness initiative over a 10-year-period, along with other provincial health-related investments, such as $124 million to the Addictions Recovery Fund, aimed at creating 500 new recovery beds throughout the province, 32 new Youth Wellness Hubs, over 100 mobile crisis teams, as well as mobile clinics.
“We continue to work to strengthen the care continuum to ensure all Ontarians get access to mental health and addictions services, where and when they need them,” said Popovic.
On whether the program funding might expand as populations in communities like Haldimand continue to grow, Popovic said the Ministry will “assess the needs of communities as they evolve.”
Helmeczi said that of the Haldimand locations, Cayuga and Hagersville consistently see high demand for the service, with a number of Selkirk residents currently accessing the service in Port Dover, leading him to consider a potential satellite office in the area in the future.
Helmeczi said the funding provides a needed sense of stability for the clinic’s staff members.
He added, “Because it’s now part of our programming, we can expand it. We can take lessons learned and identify some of the benefits of the program and where we have agency capacity to expand to make sure those benefits can be received by a greater number of community members. We can do that.”
The philosophy driving the placement of current and potential future site locations is simple: “We put the sites where you would only have to travel at most 20 minutes from one rural community to that site,” said Helmeczi. “We know from data that’s been put out by public health … nearly 80% of the population say for appointments they’re driving almost 30 minutes.”
Beyond administering both mental health and addictions services in one convenient location, Helmeczi said the clinic is a great resource for those looking for direction on getting help with a health issue, offering service navigation assistance to those who need it, and connecting clients to critical services like psychological assessments, Ontario Works, and the local food bank.
“There was someone there to help them with those other things, which often get in the way of their treatment,” he said.
Those looking to learn more about the clinic and how to access it in their community can do so by visiting southcoastwellness.org or calling their intake line at 1-877-909-4357 ext. 2150.
