The provincial government has announced a record investment in mental health and addictions in the 2019-2020 budget.
The Ministry of Health is investing $402 million in mental health services and supports this year, accounting for 6.3 per cent of the province’s health budget.
Last year, the ministry invested five per cent of its budget in mental health. The province has a goal to reach an investment of seven per cent in the coming years.
“This budget makes the largest commitment ever to mental health services in our province,” Health Minister Jim Reiter said in a release. “This includes funding for more than 140 new beds to treat individuals with mental health and addictions challenges.”
According to the government, it will use $8.39 million for 75 residential support beds for people with intensive mental health needs transitioning back into the community, 50 pre- and post-addiction beds, 10 new in-patient addiction treatment beds in Pine Lodge, six addiction treatment beds at the Calder Centre and six new inpatient beds for youth with addiction in southern Saskatchewan.
There will also be $1.6 million allocated to launching three Rapid Access to Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinics in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
The temporary Mental Health Assessment Unit in Saskatoon will become a permanent Mental Health Short Stay Unit through $1.5 million in new funding. There will be seven beds, allowing people needing acute mental health care to stay up to seven days in the facility.
The federal government is contributing $6.275 million in new funding to the province’s mental health funding.
The Ministry of Corrections and Policing has also invested $7 million of its funding into the new Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford. A secure area of the facility will offer services to offenders with mental health issues. The Saskatchewan Health Authority will operate the facility, which will have 96 beds.
