Filling the gaps in children and youth mental health services has been a long standing shared goal for Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care and regional partners in the Simcoe County and Muskoka region of Ontario, and the need has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. With support from the Ministry of Health, Waypoint expanded these services in March 2021 to provide additional community-based mental health care in a unique collaborative care model.
Under the leadership of Dr. Rob Meeder, Medical Director for Family, Child and Youth Mental Health and a mental health pediatrician, Waypoint has welcomed an additional child/youth psychiatrist and a mental health pediatrician who are providing much needed direct services to children, youth, and their families, The team also includes an RN, social worker and two administrative staff who support both in person and virtual services. This service is located in the Community Health Hub in Midland Ontario, a collaborative state-of-art medical centre that is a partnership between Waypoint and CHIGAMIK Community Health Centre. The North Simcoe Youth Wellness Hub also operates from the Health Hub and is a complimentary resource.
“With this model we not only provide direct patient care but are also building capacity in the system by working with and providing education to lead mental health agencies and Family Health Teams in the region,” notes Dr. Meeder. “This significantly increases the number of families we are able to help and is also consistent with the priorities of the collaborative Central Ontario Health Team for Specialized Populations that includes 10 partner organizations in Ontario Health Central Region.”
This expansion is in addition to the region’a existing pediatric mental health services and already has 1,137 registered clients which continues to grow. Services cover the full spectrum of mental health conditions for toddlers to transitional age youth (youth who would be entering the adult system) in a trauma informed, family-focused setting. Care is provided both virtually and in-person at the Community Health Hub or at regional affiliated primary care settings, and is part of Waypoint’s outpatient and community programs.
Last October, the team launched both an urgent care clinic which has operated virtually with the pandemic and an on-call support service for family doctors and emergency departments in the Simcoe Muskoka region. The on-call service provides support to primary care providers and Level 1 emergency physicians from Collingwood, Midland, Bracebridge/Huntsville, Alliston and West Parry Sound hospitals ranging from advice on diagnosis to medical management for patients under 18 year of age.
The timing to launch these new services supports concerning data and statistics related to an increase in mental health challenges amongst children and youth from the pandemic. The on-call support service is part of the collaborative stepped care program and shared goals with the Central Ontario Health Team for Specialized Populations to provide comprehensive and integrated care for children and youth, and support to their families.