President's Corner - Let's Talk

Today, I’ll be participating in a national conversation to break the stigma associated with mental illness.

The second annual Bell Let’s Talk Day is taking place nationwide.

The initiative seeks to break the often negative stigma associated with mental illness. In support of the event, Bell Canada will contribute five cents for every long distance call and text message its customers make to support mental health related programs across the country.

Olympian Clara Hughes will help kick off the conversation, which includes an online portal at http://bell.ca/letstalk.  Visitors to the site can post their comments and questions while learning about mental illness and how they can begin their own conversations at home and in the workplace.

The event is part of the largest ever mental health initiative by a Canadian-corporation. The five-year $50 million Bell Mental Health Initiative was announced in September 2010 and focuses on 4 pillars: anti-stigma efforts, improving care and access, research support, and new workplace initiatives.  

It’s important to recognize mental illness can affect anyone. It could be your neighbour, your family member, a friend or even yourself.

To help treat this patient population, York Central Hospital launched a pilot project at Alexander Mackenzie High School. From December 2011 to June 2012, an on-site mental health professional will be at the school one day a week to connect students with the appropriate resources and to also provide an immediate link to York Central Hospital, if necessary.

“The presence of the on-site mental health worker aims to reduce the stigma often associated with mental health as well as provide students with the information they may require in a comfortable and familiar environment,” says Donna Spevakow, Senior Project Manager & Operations Director of the Mental Health Program at York Central Hospital.

The project was made possible by the James Peek Memorial Golf Classic. The tournament was created to support mental health initiatives in honour of James Peek, who suffered from mental illness as a teenager. Since the first tournament 12 years ago, the James Peek Memorial Golf Classic has designated more than $250,000 towards the mental health program at York Central Hospital.

York Central Hospital offers many other Mental Health Inpatient and Outpatient services including a Psychiatric Inpatient Unit, Day Treatment Program, Day Hospital and Crisis Intervention Services, to name a few. Our dedicated team of mental health experts works hard to ensure those suffering from mental illness get the care they require.

To find out how you can help support mental health initiatives at York Central Hospital, please give me a call at 905-883-2032 or email bleacy@yorkcentral.on.ca

In the meantime, I hope you will join me in the conversation.

Wishing you the best of health,

Bill Leacy

President & CEO

President's Corner - Let's Talk... About Mental Health

Today, the inaugural Bell Let’s Talk Day is taking place nationwide. The initiative seeks to break the often negative stigma associated with mental illness. Bell will contribute  five cents for every long distance call and text message its customers make to support mental health related programs across the country.

Olympian Clara Hughes will help kick off the conversation, which includes an online portal at bell.ca/letstalk. Canadians can post their comments, questions and their own smiles while learning about mental illness and how they can begin their own conversations at home and in the workplace.

The initiative is part of the largest ever mental health initiative by a Canadian-corporation. The 5-year $50 million Bell Mental Health Initiative was announced in September is focused on 4 pillars: Anti-stigma efforts, improving care and access, research support, and new workplace initiatives.   

It’s important to recognize mental illness can and does affect anyone and everyone. It could be your neighbour, your family member, a friend or even yourself.

At York Central Hospital, we offer many Mental Health Inpatient and Outpatient services including a Psychiatric Inpatient Unit, Day Treatment Program, Day Hospital and Crisis Intervention Services, to name a few. Our dedicated team of professionals work hard to ensure those suffering from mental illness get the care they require to properly treat and manage their illness.

Today, I’ll be joining in a national conversation to break the stigma associated with mental illness. Will you be joining?

For more information, please visit bell.ca/letstalk or bce.ca/mentalhealth.

Wishing you the best of health,

Bill Leacy

President & CEO

Let's Talk... For a Good Cause!

On September 21, 2010, Bell launched a $50-million multi-year charitable campaign to support and promote mental health services nationwide.

Bell launches national charitable initiative supporting mental health

The initiative is being led by Mary Deacon, former CEO of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation. The campaign will focus on four pillars: anti-stigma, community care and access, workplace health and research.

The telecommunications company also announced Bell Let’s Talk Day, which will seek to raise awareness about mental health. On February 9, 2011, 5 cents from every text message and long distance call made by Bell customers will be donated to support mental health initiatives across the country. Six-time Olympic medalist Clara Hughes will be leading the national conversation.

Mental illness is something many people suffer from, but is something not often discussed, and the facts are startling:

·  At least one in five Canadians experiences a form of mental illness at some point in their lives – each and every one of us has a family member, friend or colleague who will experience mental illness

·  Mental illness represents 15% of Canada’s health care burden but receives only 5% of health care funding

·  Just one-third of Canadians who need mental health services actually receive them

·  Mental illness is the number one cause of workplace disability in Canada – accounting for 30% of disability claims and 70% of disability costs

·  Mental illness costs the Canadian economy $51 billion each year in lost productivity – every day, 500,000 Canadians are absent from work due to a form of mental illness

Mental illness affects residents in every corner of our country, Southwest York Region included. York Central Hospital provides both inpatient and outpatient services to patients and our dedicated team of professionals works hard to ensure those suffering from mental health get the treatment they require.

On Wednesday, you can help raise awareness by doing what most of us love to do anyway: communicate with friends and family. Send a text message, or make a phone call to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.

You’ll be helping to open the lines of communication and support mental health initiatives throughout the country.

For more information, visit www.bell.ca/letstalk.

Looking forward joining you in the conversation,

Alyshia

Stewardship & Communications Coordinator