A new Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health is one step closer to reality with the project breaking ground in the northwest community of Hounsfield Heights in Calgary.
Being built in partnership between Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, the centre will provide young people with new and enhanced services, including a walk-in clinic with specialized triage and the opportunity for immediate referrals to onsite programs.
The centre is expected to open in the fall of 2021. In addition to the walk-in clinic, the three-storey, 3,200-sq.-m facility will also offer an intensive treatment program and a day hospital. The facility’s services will augment and integrate with existing services provided by AHS and community-based agencies.
“Our government is committed to ensuring healthy futures for children and youth with mental health challenges, as well as their families,” says Premier Jason Kenney. “This centre is a great example of how innovative care can be delivered in the community. We believe it will be a tremendous source of hope and help for young people.
The centre will be one of the most robust research-intensive, community-based mental healthcare facilities for young people in Canada. In partnership with AHS, the research initiatives involve several faculties at the University of Calgary, led by experts from the Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the Mathison Centre at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.
“Beyond serving as an innovative clinical care facility, this new centre represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop and implement a world-leading mental health research program with a direct pipeline from discovery to care – all in one setting,” says Deborah Yedlin, Chancellor of the University of Calgary. “Through this centre, we will be enabling research that has never before been possible in our community.”
With design and planning work well underway, the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation’s Build Them Up campaign has already raised $47.2 million of its $50-million goal to fund construction of the centre, along with program and research enhancements. AHS will provide operational funding to staff and manage the new facility.
