Mental health, addiction services in province receiving revamp

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This article was published 18/02/2022 (1327 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Manitoba government plans to spend millions on a five-year revamp of addiction services and mental health programs.

Sarah Guillemard, minister responsible for mental health, made the announcement Thursday at River Point Centre, an addiction treatment facility on Magnus Avenue.

The funding includes $23.7 million for current programs that align with the new plan, dubbed a “road map,” and $17.1 million for the first year of the overhaul.

The minister said most of the money will be spent on increasing services provincewide.

“We needed to have a framework for the next five years so that we could strategically look at the priorities and what is being asked of us by not only the people who have needs, but also the service providers,” Guillemard told reporters.

The plan includes making mental health and addictions services easier to access, increasing capacity across the province to decrease wait times, and allow people to get treatment closer to home, as well as prevention and early intervention programs.

The minister said the plan will prioritize partnerships with Indigenous groups.

The overhaul comes after consultations last summer, in which more than 3,000 people weighed in. That included service providers and people who’ve experienced mental health issues or addictions.

The minister also said the province will give $2 million to United Way Winnipeg to fund community initiatives in the mental health and addictions sectors, on top of $2.9 million from the charity’s donors. Community organizations will be eligible for up to $225,000 over three years.

The NDP said it’s not enough.

“There is an addictions crisis in our province right now, in part because government programs are underfunded and inaccessible,” reads a statement from MLA Bernadette Smith.

“There’s no new money to ensure Manitobans struggling with addictions get the supports they need.”

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