Four years ago, children with psychiatric issues who needed to stay at Royal Inland Hospital were placed in the same ward as adults who had mental-health challenges.
At the time, the Interior Health Authority said there wasn’t a need for a separate paediatric psychiatric area because there wasn’t the volume of patients to warrant it.
Within about a year, however, the hospital set aside part of its fifth floor to provide just that kind of care — an area that has been renovated and officially opened to the media, funders and the provincial government to see.
Children should be using it by the end of the month.
The numbers have grown as the hospital sees about 100 children a year who need to stay for a period of time for treatment of their illness.
The new ward, with two beds, is located at the same location as the former one, but has been expanded and enhanced, with a lounge area to watch TV or play games, an outdoor patio, a new counselling room, a dedicated washroom with a shower room (not on the ward, but nearby) and a new nurses’ station.
The area is seen as a crisis-stabilization unit for youth who might need treatment from psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, child and youth workers and, occasionally, occupation therapists.
They might need one-on-one or group therapy before being sent home with a community-support plan in place.
The renovation cost about $850,000 and was shared between the Interior Health Authority and the Thompson Regional Hospital District. The RBC Foundation also provided a $20,000 grant to help furnish the space.
Kris Kristjanson, an IHA health-service director, said at times when two beds are not enough, children might be referred to other hospitals, such as the tertiary-care facility in Kelowna.
An assessment may show one of the patients already on the ward is due to leave soon, in which case they other child might be held RIH’s ER until the bed is available.
The new unit will serve patients throughout the Thompson-Nicola and Cariboo regions.
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