N.B. spending $6.3M to build youth psychiatry unit in Saint John

The Saint John Regional Hospital will have a psychiatry unit dedicated to youth.

The New Brunswick government is spending $6.3 million to build an in-patient psychiatry unit for children and youth at the Saint John Regional Hospital.

There are no beds of this type in the Saint John area, and only the Moncton hospital boasts a similar unit. The Campbellton hospital currently has an eight-bed interim unit.

There is also a facility being constructed off Salisbury Road in Moncton that is slated to open in the middle of 2027.

As it stands, young patients requiring hospitalization for psychiatric needs are either being admitted to regular pediatric units, adult units, or other facilities in the province.

Robert McKee, New Brunswick’s minister responsible for addictions and mental health services, says the unit will fill a longstanding gap for youth mental health services in Saint John.

“Each year, about 80 to 120 young people require hospitalization for psychiatric needs,” says McKee during Monday’s announcement at the Saint John Regional Hospital. “[The unit] will support continuity of care, keep families involved, and ensure timely interventions that lead to better outcomes.”

The new unit will have five beds and provide immediate, specialized, trauma-informed treatment, according to officials. Staffing would include a combination of nurses, social workers, and other professional would be involved in the care.

Where the unit will be placed within the hospital has yet to be made public, but Horizon Health Network president and CEO Margaret Melanson says the work will entail a renovation of an existing space, not the construction of an addition onto the existing hospital.

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Melanson is hopeful the units would aid around 50 patients annually, but that number could vary.

“These are not just overnight stays or very short stays,” Melanson points out. “For a child to have reached that crisis point that they require admission to hospital, for them to be managed and supported, really indicates that their situation has come to the point that there is a lengthy plan involved both in stabilizing these children for whatever reason that brought them to hospital, but also ensuring that we have a supportive plan in place prior to their discharge. This requires time.”

A care plan for how the new unit will operate was developed by Horizon to tailor to the specific needs of the Saint John region. While the facility is being built in Saint John, officials say patients could come from anywhere in the province, depending on their needs.

Officials also see the new unit not only as a way to give youth much-needed support, but also to aid those close to “falling between the cracks” before they enter adulthood.

As crime, drugs, and homelessness rates continue to rise across New Brunswick, McKee, who also serves as the minister of justice, says these programs can help reduce the trend.

He says the earlier the investment can be made into the youth, the earlier the potential for crises happening later in life can be avoided. McKee says, in those cases, the crises have the potential to be much more costly or tragic.

“If we can help them early on in their personal situations, then it goes a long way in helping them get ahead in life,” says the minister.

The sentiment is echoed by New Brunswick Health Minister John Dornan.

He says the best time to intervene is early when people are vulnerable, impressionable, and “fixable” while they are in their late teens or early 20s.

“The critical part is to get them through that acute part,” says Dornan. “And then give them the tools, the counseling, sometimes medications, long-term follow up, until they no longer need the specialized inpatient care.”

Dr. Dinesh Bhalla is the physician program lead for addiction and mental health with Horizon.

He says the average stay could be anywhere from two weeks to as long as six months, depending on the care needed.

As for if people find success following their stays, Bhalla says it depends on the support in place around the patient when they leave the hospital.

“These patients, when left on their own devices in the community, will get into drug use, crystal meth being our number one challenge right now,” he says. “[Youth] as young as 10-year-olds are coming out with suicide attempts, so this is not something that develops over a day or two.”

“Our hope is that a child can be properly stabilized to avoid additional admissions,” Melanson adds.

The health department will work with the health authority to establish working groups to oversee the project.

There is no current timeline for when the new unit will be in operation.

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.