Thursday, March 28, 2024

New mental health and addictions care facility opening in North Saanich next week

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The first and only evidence-based private mental health and addictions care facility in Western Canada is opening its doors on Vancouver Island next week.

Homewood Ravensview in North Saanich will be accepting patients starting Monday, June 17th – they’ve already got around 25 – 30 people on the waitlist – and has the capacity to house up to 99 patients.

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Their treatment plan focuses on comprehensive inpatient care, following an evidence-based, medically informed model with physicians, psychiatrists, and nurses available on site 24/7.

The 75,000 sq. ft. facility is located at 1515 McTavish Rd in North Saanich and employs a team of 50 healthcare professionals.

“We are an abstinence based facility so people aren’t allowed to use drugs that aren’t prescribed by a physician,” says general manager Robert De Clark. “We will use opiate-assisted therapy for those coming off opiates but it is not a safe consumption site.”

Ravensview primarily offers specialized care programs for first responders, military, veterans, executives, as well as adults and young adults.

The full treatment plan includes psychiatric care, medical care, counselling and integrated
therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy and cognitive processing therapy, as well as music, horticultural and art therapy.

Patients stay on site for approximately six to nine weeks, after which they will be monitored for an additional year at Homewood outpatient clinics across the country.

Referrals and post-treatment care

De Clark states that an online post-treatment recovery management program is in the works, wherein former inpatient clients can check in through a video conferencing platform for the one year after their treatment. However, this program will not be ready for several months.

While the facility accepts referrals from doctors, employers, and insurers, patients can also  admit themselves and start treatment within 24 hours.

“Currently, we’ve had referrals from Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC, and anticipate that the majority of patients will come to us from Western Canadian provinces, although we’ll accept people from across the country,” said De Clark.

For those who do not have insurance or certain types of federal funding – such as through Veterans Affairs Canada – this treatment plan will cost $700 per day.

The Homewood Research Institute will also be conducting post-discharge outcome surveys based on patients’ recovery from a research perspective.

Patients will be asked to sign a waiver to disclose their recovery information, and those who choose to opt out can do so at any time.

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“Those with substance use problems are up to three times more likely to have a mental illness,” says Dr. Michael Berry, Clinical Director at Ravensview.

“These concurrent conditions are complex and require experienced, medically-led treatment. No other facility in Western Canada is equipped with the staffing complement and clinical expertise to treat a primary diagnosis of mental health with a secondary diagnosis of addiction.”

The staff at Homewood Ravensview is currently in the process of moving into their new facility, and will be hosting a grand opening ceremony on Tuesday, June 18th.

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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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