CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — There are no immediate plans to reopen the Psychiatric Urgent Care Clinic (PUCC) at Hillsborough Hospital, health officials confirmed Friday.
The clinic will be located within the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Charlottetown for the foreseeable future.
It was originally opened at Hillsborough Hospital in the spring in order to redirect patients experiencing a mental health crisis away from emergency rooms. Health officials were concerned at the time about COVID-19 transmission within P.E.I.’s largest hospital. Prior to this, individuals could see a mental health nurse within the emergency room.
The PUCC was seen among health authorities as a success in providing mental health services and was the recipient of an award for leadership excellence in quality safety awards during the fall annual general meeting of Health P.E.I. Health authorities also say it reduced wait time for accessing psychiatrists.
But in November, the province announced the closure of the PUCC at Hillsborough Hospital and said it would be operating out of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. This was described as a temporary measure due to staff shortages.
On Friday, Carol Chipman Francis, acting nurse manager for Unit 9 at the QEH, said the PUCC will be in place at QEH for the foreseeable future because of its proximity to other mental health services.
“It was easier for us to staff our mental health and addiction areas by having Unit 9 and mental health crisis under the same roof and also to staff child and youth," Chipman Francis said.
"Those three areas required folks to look after people, and we just didn't have enough to keep it stand-alone at the time."
Chipman Francis said she needs to fill three registered nurse positions, one licensed practical nurse position and “several” personal care workers to reopen Unit 9 back up to full capacity. She also said she is hoping to hire a second crisis response nurse and a licensed practical nurse to staff the ER.
The province reopened six beds within Unit 9 to patients in early November. But most beds within the unit currently house seniors who have dementia.
While Chipman Francis said the move of the PUCC back to the QEH was due to staffing issues, she believes the move would improve patient quality of service and reduce the wait times for individuals needing to see a psychiatrist.
“If they're medically stable, they're in without any wait time," she said.
