Ontario Connecting People Throughout Georgian Bay and Simcoe Muskoka to Mental Health Care Close to Home

New inpatient unit at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care will provide faster access to urgent care

December 18, 2023

PENETANGUISHENE — The Ontario government is connecting communities throughout Georgian Bay and Simcoe Muskoka to mental health supports by investing in a new inpatient acute care unit at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. The new unit will expand access to specialized urgent mental health and addictions services, making it faster and easier for people and their families to connect to care closer to home.

“All Ontarians deserve to receive convenient care close to home, no matter where they live,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By investing in a new inpatient acute care unit at Waypoint, our government is ensuring that people in the Georgian Bay region will have faster access to specialized mental health services and supports, when and where they need it most.”

This investment will support planning and construction to renovate over 10,000 square feet of existing space at Waypoint. Once complete, the new acute mental health inpatient unit will add an additional 20 beds to the facility and connect more people and their families in the region to a team of health care professionals that provide a full range of services in the main campus, including psychiatry, psychology, occupational and recreation therapy, and addictions counselling.

“Our government continues to take action to build a recovery-oriented continuum of care for mental health and addictions that serves the unique needs of people across the province,” said Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, “With this new inpatient unit at Waypoint, those in the region who are in need of immediate and urgent mental health care will be able to quickly access it.”

Ontario is working with Waypoint to continue to advance this project. As a next step, a fair, open, and transparent tender process is expected to begin in the new year with construction starting shortly after.

Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, Ontario is helping connect more Ontarians to convenient care to support mental health and wellness, closer to home.

Quick Facts

As of the end of 2022, Ontario has over 50 approved hospital development projects that will build more than 3,000 new hospital beds in communities across the province over the next 10 years. Ontario’s investments over the next decade will lead to over $48 billion in health infrastructure across the province.
In 2020, Ontario released a strategy to build a world-class mental health and addictions system – Roadmap to Wellness: A Plan to Build Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions System. Supported by a commitment to invest $3.8 billion over 10 years, Roadmap is adding capacity to meet demand, filling gaps in the care continuum, and creating a provincial infrastructure for a mental health and addictions continuum of care that connects primary, community, and acute care to better meet the needs of people with mental health and addictions issues.
In Budget 2023, Ontario is building on its historic $3.8 billion investment by providing an additional $425 million over three years. This investment will provide community-based mental health and addictions service providers funded by the Ministry of Health with a five per cent increase in base funding.
Since 2019-20, the government has flowed $525 million in new base funding for mental health and addictions services and supports. This funding is supporting a range of services, including child and youth mental health, community-based addictions services, supportive housing, mental health and justice, and Indigenous mental health and addictions.

Quotes

“Waypoint thanks Minister Jones and the Government of Ontario for this support to address the growing need for mental health and addictions care in our region. The investment in this 20-bed acute mental health unit at Waypoint is an investment in the system and will enable us as a regional centre to support patients and partners throughout Simcoe Muskoka and the surrounding area with the specialized and expert care they deserve. The unit includes the first psychiatric ICU beds in our region for individuals with increased risk due to severe mental illness, an important milestone toward delivering safer care and relieving pressures on the emergency departments of our eight partner hospitals throughout the region. We are grateful for the support we have received from elected officials and partners across the region, which speaks to our shared commitment to better care for individuals with increasingly complex mental health needs.”

– Dr. Nadiya Sunderji
President and CEO, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care

“I am proud to be part of this invaluable investment to establish a new mental health acute care unit at Waypoint. This commitment supports the well-being of individuals in crisis and reflects our collective dedication to fostering a compassionate and healing environment for those in need in our communities.”

– Jill Dunlop
MPP for Simcoe North

Ontario Connecting People Throughout Georgian Bay and Simcoe Muskoka to Mental Health Care Close to Home

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