The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in longer admission times for Acute Inpatient Psychiatry patients due to closure of treatment centres and difficulty in securing housing options in the community. This has made maintaining a safe social distance increasingly challenging for inpatients and staff, and has led to an increased need to relocate patients out of a higher risk hospital setting. A need for surge planning for a potential Mental Health and Addictions Crisis was identified.
See how Monarch Recovery Services and Health Sciences North formed an innovative partnership to deal with this challenge: