The Government of Ontario is investing more than $1.6 billion to support the design and construction of two new buildings at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s (CAMH) Queen Street West campus in Toronto – the Phase 1D Redevelopment project.
“Today’s ground-breaking represents a significant milestone in our government’s plan to connect more people to high-quality mental health supports that meet their needs,” said Premier Doug Ford. “CAMH provides critical mental health and addictions services and research that helps people from across Ontario and our government is glad to support this important work.”
This final phase of CAMH’s redevelopment plan will see two new buildings constructed at the hospital – the Secure Care and Recovery Building and the Discovery Centre.
The Secure Care and Recovery Building will support CAMH’s forensic mental health services program which addresses the needs of patients with mental illness who have encountered the legal system.
Once completed, the Secure Care and Recovery Building will include:
- Increased number of beds to connect more people to the forensic mental health program;
- Dedicated family visitation areas in the inpatient units;
- Enclosed outdoor areas to support recovery;
- Outpatient services; and
- Enhanced security and building support services to help patients stay safe.
Currently under construction, the new state-of-the-art Discovery Centre building will consolidate CAMH’s research services at its Queen Street site, allowing for it to become a modern academic campus that integrates care with research, education, and policy development.
“Under the leadership of Premier Ford our government is making record investments in hospital infrastructure, expanding hospital capacity across the province with shovels in the ground for over 50 new projects to connect people to the care they need, when they need it,” said Sylvia Jones, Minister of Health. “The new and modernized facility at CAMH will continue to support mental health and addictions care for patients across Ontario.”
“The physical transformation of our Queen Street West site is turning what was once a walled institution into a symbol of hope for the future of mental health care. With the construction of the Secure Care and Recovery Building and Discovery Centre, we will continue to provide the highest quality care to our most complex patients and accelerate research discoveries and developments that will improve the lives of those living with mental illness, because mental health is health,” said Sarah Downey, president and CEO, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Featured image: (Infrastructure Ontario)
