Burnaby Centre lauded for leadership and vision

VANCOUVER, BC – The vision, concept and teamwork that made the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction (BCMHA) possible has been recognized by Deloitte Touche as an example of public sector leadership worthy of national recognition.

The BCMHA, operated by Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), was recently honoured with a 2010 IPAC/Deloitte Sector Public Sector Leadership Award. This national award acknowledges outstanding leadership within federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels of government, as well as in health care, educational and not-for-profit organizations across the country.

“A good leader identifies challenges, seizes opportunities and addresses issues in a new way,” said Dalton Truthwaite, Deloitte’s Health Leader for BC. “What the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction is doing is a testimony to bold vision, courage and commitment to make change happen. The Burnaby Centre has worked successfully to bring resources together to provide a much needed service to citizens who are “looking for a new and fresh start in life.”  Robert Taylor, IPAC’s CEO, added that “BCMHA’s passion for what they do is infectious and their results really speak for themselves.”

The awards program profiles individuals and teams who have dared to take their organizations in a new direction in the pursuit of better outcomes. To this end, the BCMHA has transformed the way that people with complex current disorders receive treatment in BC, and helped ease the enormous costs to public safety, enforcement, emergency departments and public health that complex current disorders populations pose.  

“The centre provides comprehensive care to people with concurrent, severe, mental health, physical health, substance use and behavioural problems – a population that was not previously well served by existing outpatient programs,” said Heather Hay, Director, BCMHA. “To address this population, the organization advocated for these clients and developed a vision -- a facility to treat the person and all of his or her symptoms and issues under a single roof.”

From vision to opening, the centre came to fruition in just four months with the full support of two provincial ministries – the Ministry of Health and the Ministry responsible for Housing. Since its opening in 2008, the BCMHA has worked closely with BC Housing to develop housing options for this population. The BCMHA also supports the provincial government’s 10-year Mental Health and Addiction Strategy.

 “We are seeing better outcomes for many of our clients, who have severe persistent mental illnesses, are poly-substance users and often suffer from physical illnesses too,” said Dr. Michael Krausz, the UBC/Providence Health Care Leadership Chair for Addiction Research, and medical director of the BCMHA and the VCH regional program for current disorders. “The BCMHA is a critical component of a future clinical pathway to recovery.”

More than 325 people have been admitted to the BCMHA since it opened, and 128 clients have completed the program and transitioned to supportive housing.

VCH is responsible for the delivery of $2.9 billion in community, hospital and residential care to more than one million people in communities, including Richmond, Vancouver, the North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky corridor, Powell River, Bella Bella and Bella Coola.

CONTACT:Anna Marie D’Angelo
Senior Media Relations Officer, Vancouver Coastal Health

Tel: 604.790.4763  Email: annamarie.dangelo@vch.ca

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