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Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare is relocating its crisis centre and programming to new locations in downtown Windsor to improve support for those experiencing mental health and addiction.
Part of the changes includes moving the Mental Health and Addictions Urgent Crisis Centre from 774 Ouellette Ave. to the former fracture clinic at 1030 Ouellette — next door to the Windsor Regional Hospital emergency room.
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“This is more than just an address change or geography move,” said Bill Marra, CEO at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
“It’s really meeting individuals at a more convenient time and location for when they need support and services.”
Marra, who expects the changes to ease pressure on the ER and shorten wait times, said the move “is really about strengthening the healthcare system.”
HDGH also plans to transfer its mental health programming to the first three floors of the vacant 500 Ouellette Ave building, previously home to the Sutherland Global call centre.
Both locations are anticipated to open June 24.
Marra said the decision to change locations was “very much in line” with the City of Windsor’s $3.2 million Strengthen the Core Plan, unanimously approved by council May 14. He said it also follows the announcement in late May to expand the Nurse Police Team to seven days a week.
He feels the changes will help “the most vulnerable, and at time, most marginalized and at-risk individuals in our community.
“A lot of people are presenting in the ER when they don’t have any options or they feel they have no options.
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“The ER is not always the most ideal place for a person to present when they’re going through a mental health and addictions crisis.”
The Ouellette Avenue crisis centre will open seven days a week, 12 hours per day — from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. — for patients 16 years and older.
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The first two floors of 500 Ouellette Ave. will host the HDGH downtown campus, offering programs including:
- Injection Clinic
- General Psychiatry Clinic
- Transitional Youth Clinic
- Assessment and Referral
- Wellness Program
- Community Withdrawal Management
- Canadian Mental Health Association – Coordinated Access
Marra said Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams — which offer wrap-around services to roughly 200 patients at Prince Road — will move into the third floor come July.
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