Hospital boosts number of social workers responding to 911 calls with Essex County OPP
The number has gone from one to three, according to Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare
People experiencing mental health crises in areas of Essex County served by the OPP are now more likely to see a social worker — not just a police officer — when they call 911.
Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) says it has increased the number of social workers who can respond to 911 calls with police from one to three.
The specialty hospital, which focuses on mental health care, previously had two social workers assigned to its Mental Health Response Units, said Kevin Matte, the director of outpatient mental health services at HDGH.
Those units paired social workers with OPP officers, but they didn't respond to live calls, he said. Instead, they mostly handled referrals.
Now all three of those officer-social worker pairings will be part of the new Essex County Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team, which responds to 911 calls.
"Policing departments are seeing more 911 calls for mental health issues," Matte said. "So it's important for us to be able to kind of react to that and be able to support that increased call volume and allow us to have more availability of crisis workers on the road."
The hospital has implemented a similar change to its partnership with the Windsor Police Service and almost doubled its volume, he said. But comparing Windsor to communities served by the OPP, such as Kingsville and Tecumseh, "isn't apples to apples."
The change isn't just about increasing the volume of patients social workers see, he said.
"It's targeted more to be person-centred because … if there's a call in Kingsville and a call in Tecumseh at the same time, it allows clinicians to attend both locations simultaneously, and it brings …. the care to people when they need it."
HDGH has been partnering with the OPP for more than five years now, Matte said, and they've learned that it's important to be flexible to make services as accessible as possible.
The changes won't affect clients of the Mental Health Response Units, the hospital said in a news release issued Wednesday. Clients will continue to receive follow-up as necessary.