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Pinewood receiving new funding

Durham MPP Lindsey Park, joined by Ajax MPP Rod Phillips, announced $845,200 in mental health and addictions funding for the Pinewood Centre in Oshawa. Frontenac Youth Services, a children’s mental health centre in Oshawa, will also receive $240,000. (Photo by Dave Flaherty)

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

Oshawa’s Pinewood Centre is a beneficiary of new provincial funding for mental health and addictions.

Durham MPP Lindsey Park announced Pinewood will receive $845,200 as part of an overall $174 million allocation.

Among the funding is $430,000 for Pinewood’s youth residency treatment and withdrawal management program, along with $100,000 each for the early-psychosis intervention and ‘safe bed’ addictions and withdrawal management programs.

Another $120,000 will go towards  hiring a full-time nurse practitioner at the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinic, while another $95,000 will assist in bringing in a full-time addictions counsellor within the community addictions services program.

Frontenac Youth Services, a children’s mental health centre in Oshawa, will also receive $240,000.

Park says the funding “shows just how much we value these services in our community.”

“We need to support the organizations that do great work and provide the needed supports in Durham Region,” she said.

Calling Ontario’s mental health care system “disconnected and fragmented,” Park said it’s  “difficult for patients to get the care they need.”

“This leaves many vulnerable Ontarians to navigate a confusing system on their own and accessing timely mental healthcare only when in crisis,” Park said.

Sharon Cochran, chair of Lakeridge Health’s board of trustees stated mental health and addictions continue to be a priority for the local network.

“This important investment will directly support our team and partners to meet the growing need for mental health and addictions services in our community,” Cochran says.

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