Thursday August 29, 2024 | COLWOOD, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
Just a week ahead of schools opening and a busy fall season for families, the new Westshore Mental Health and Substance Use Service Hub has opened in Colwood.
A tour was given by Island Health yesterday, attended by Island Health Board Chair Leah Hollins and two local west shore MLAs: Mitzi Dean (Esquimalt-Metchosin) who is the Minister of State for Child Care, and Ravi Parmar (Langford-Juan de Fuca) who is the Parliamentary Secretary for International Credentials.
More about the facility is posted below, in an article from June 8, 2024.
===== RELATED:
- Construction tour at upcoming Westshore Mental Health and Substance Use Service Hub (June 8, 2024)
- MLA Parmar & west shore mayors attend Mobile Integrated Crisis Response Teams update (April 29, 2024)
- Westshore-Sooke gets youth Foundry services (March 4, 2024)
- Three west shore ridings heating up toward BC Election 2024 (February 12, 2024)
- Mitzi Dean was engaged across communities in 2023 (December 29, 2023)
NEWS SECTIONS: VANCOUVER ISLAND | HEALTH | ISLAND HEALTH | BC ELECTION 2024
As first published on June 8, 2024:
Sometime this fall a new Island Health facility will open in Colwood. It’s called the Westshore Mental Health and Substance Use Service Hub.
Located in a new strip mall on Allandale Road — just beyond the major intersection of Sooke Road (Highway 14) and Veterans Memorial Parkway — the ground-level one-level facility will serve residents of the west shore region of Greater Victoria with mental health and substance use services.
Meanwhile, the future health services facility is a roughed-in series of rooms with some components of modern design already installed (kind of like putting in the landscaping before finishing the house).
Effective interior design concept:
Overall, there is a sense that the operational space, once completed, will be both spacious and cozy. The design concept offers relaxing and inspirational components which is aiming to be part of a welcoming space for clients who have experienced trauma, mental health issues, or are coping with addiction.
The hub’s team will include experts from various fields including psychiatry, addiction medicine, nursing, counselling, occupational therapy and peer support. A seamless care experience is the goal. The team will adapt to each person’s changing needs over time, aiming to ensure consistent ongoing support throughout the person’s recovery.
Who was there:
On hand for a construction tour on the late afternoon of Friday June 7 were two west shore region MLAs: Mitzi Dean (whose riding Esquiamlt-Metchosin includes Colwood) and Ravi Parmar (whose riding Langford-Juan de Fuca is right next door).
Yesterday’s tour was led by the manager for the facility, Mary Morrison.
Also on the tour attended by about 20 to 30 people along the way, was Island Health Board Chair Leah Hollins, and several health authority staffers. Acting Mayor for Colwood, David Grove, was also on hand.
Two West Shore RCMP officers attended. The detachment now includes a mental health team (officer and nurse) that attends calls.
Media on tour included journalists from regional publication Island Social Trends and also Black Press, and a photographer from the Times Colonist. Government staffers of course tag along to capture photos and audio as well.
Groundbreaking in two ways:
Mitzi Dean appropriately pointed out that not only will the facility be new but its operational setup will also be groundbreaking. Essentially it’s a one-stop shop for clients with mental health, addictions and trauma-related issues.
Following the idea as seen at Urgent Primary Care Centres where a range of health professionals are on site or can be accessed from a central location, the Westshore Mental Health and Substance Use Service Hub will offer a fluid set of social work and health care professionals who will aim to usher clients from where they’re at to a point of greater health and function.
Funding is essentially provincial, essentially an operating and capital combination of funding through Island Health and the provincial government.
Hollins in her remarks to the gathered tour participants said she felt that the current government has had the mindset to create an integrated space like the Westshore Mental Health and Substance Use Service Hub, that not all governments would take this approach toward local service for “low to moderate mental health and addiction needs and connecting those with higher needs to specialized care”.
Hollins called the new approach a “coordinated and effective care system”.
Serving the west shore:
Dean is particularly keen to point out that the facility will serve the fast-growing west shore region which includes Colwood, Langford, View Royal, Sooke, and the Juan de Fuca areas like East Sooke and as far beyond as Port Renfrew (for which Highway 14 access is helpful in that regard).
She told Island Social Trends that she and Parmar regularly communicate to the NDP government caucus about the need for any range of services to be located in the west shore (given that transportation to the core areas of Victoria and Saanich is a challenge of time and resource for many residents in the west shore). It helps government “be aware of the needs of the west shore by osmosis,” says Dean.
As a long-time social work career professional, Dean commented to the facility coordinator during the tour that Tuesday to Saturday operating hours would be suitable for busy working people.
Gunning for re-election:
Of course both Parmar and Dean used the tour opportunity to promote their re-election bids in the upcoming provincial election.
Set for October 19, 2024 the election has 93 ridings (up from 87), including now three electoral areas in the west shore, up from two.
Mitzi Dean will be the NDP candidate in Esquimalt-Colwood (which includes VicWest and View Royal, but no longer Metchosin); she was elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2020.
Ravi Parmar will be the NDP candidate for Langford-Highlands (just those two municipalities, losing Sooke from the current footprint); he was first elected in a by-election in June 2023.
The new Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding will include Sooke and Metchosin.
===== RELATED:
- Construction tour at upcoming Westshore Mental Health and Substance Use Service Hub (June 8, 2024)
- MLA Parmar & west shore mayors attend Mobile Integrated Crisis Response Teams update (April 29, 2024)
- Westshore-Sooke gets youth Foundry services (March 4, 2024)
- Three west shore ridings heating up toward BC Election 2024 (February 12, 2024)
- Mitzi Dean was engaged across communities in 2023 (December 29, 2023)
NEWS SECTIONS: VANCOUVER ISLAND | HEALTH | ISLAND HEALTH | BC ELECTION 2024