Mental Illness Awareness Week is next week, October 3 to 9th, and a fitting time for Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care to announce exciting news about the Child Youth & Family Mental Health Program which will increase access to experts for children and youth who need specialized mental health care.

Waypoint’s Dr. Rob Meeder, the program’s medical director, is happy to announce that Dr. Peter Braunberger, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, and Dr. Joe Oliver, a mental health pediatrician, are joining the team starting October 1, 2021. Together, the team is also launching both an urgent care clinic and an on-call support service for family doctors and emergency departments in the Simcoe/Muskoka Region. 

The on call service will provide mental health support for primary care providers and level 1 emergency room physicians from Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, Georgian Bay General Hospital, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, Stevenson Memorial Hospital and West Parry Sound Health Centre who are looking after patients who are under age 18. Support may range from simply providing advice on diagnosis and medical management, to arranging to see the patient in person or virtually at Waypoint. To start there will be coverage for the hours of 8AM to 10PM Monday to Friday and 8AM to 5PM on weekends and statutory holidays. When staff resources increase, coverage will increase.

“The addition of an urgent care clinic will allow us to triage patients more effectively and ensure that patients who need care more urgently are seen in a timely manner,” said Dr. Rob Meeder, pediatrician and Medical Director, Waypoint Family, Child and Youth Services. 

These additional medical staff and the new support services will improve access for children, youth and families in our communities to specialized mental health care and augment what is already being offered in the region. It is anticipated new patients requiring urgent assessment at Waypoint child and youth services can be seen through the urgent care clinic within 7 days following referral from a primary care provider. Patients will be seen virtually or in person at the Family Child and Youth Mental Health Program located in the Community Health Hub at 287 Bayshore Drive, Midland.

The timing to launch these new services supports concerning data and statistics related to an increase in mental health challenges amongst children and youth from the pandemic. This is a shared goal of the Central Ontario Health Team for Specialized Populations, of which Waypoint is a member. The on-call support service is part of a collaborative stepped care program, working with primary care providers and other partners, to provide comprehensive and integrated health care for children and youth, and support to their families.