A Prince George psychiatrist says Northern B.C. urgently needs a dedicated psychiatric hospital to relieve dangerous overcrowding and provide long-term care for the most severely ill patients.
Dr. Barb Kane, head of psychiatry at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. (UHNBC), told Quesnel council this week that the closure of Riverview Hospital in 2012 left B.C. as the only province in Canada without a long-term secure psychiatric facility.
鈥淢any of us have come to the conclusion that a psychiatric hospital is an essential part of the health-care system,鈥� Kane said. 鈥淎nd right now, we don鈥檛 have one.鈥�
Kane said patients meant to stay an average of two weeks often remain on UHNBC鈥檚 20-bed ward for years because there is nowhere else to send them. One patient stayed nearly five years. That overcrowding spills into the rest of the hospital.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 tell a suicidal patient or someone brought in psychotic by police to come back next week,鈥� Kane said. 鈥淏ut you can cancel elective surgery when there aren鈥檛 enough surgical beds. Surgery is the canary in the coal mine for hospital overcrowding.鈥�
She explained to council how some psychiatric patients end up in wards as unlikely as pediatrics or maternity, delaying as many as 100 surgeries a year.
Kane said the situation worsened when Riverview closed. Patients who would once have gone there for months or years of treatment now stay in Prince George, often beyond the hospital鈥檚 capacity to handle them.
鈥淲e are keeping people with a level of violence that we were not built for,鈥� she said.
She added that some patients tell nurses they don鈥檛 feel safe on the ward.
鈥淵ou go in there for your depression or because your wife left you, and then you have to run for your life because somebody else is tearing the place up,鈥� Kane said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e mixing people that shouldn鈥檛 be mixed together.鈥�
The province鈥檚 forensic psychiatric hospital in Port Coquitlam is also in gridlock, she said, accepting only court-ordered cases. That leaves jails unable to treat offenders who become mentally ill in custody, and in some cases, people are released untreated.
鈥淲e keep them for as long as we can, but we can鈥檛 keep people forever,鈥� Kane said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of moral distress for staff in discharging people who you know still have an increased risk of violence.鈥�
She noted that smaller group homes and community-based facilities have failed because they cannot manage violent patients.
鈥淩iverview never had to call the police if somebody got violent,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey had trained psychiatric teams and enough staff to deal with it.鈥�
Kane and other advocates have calling for a psychiatric hospital in Northern B.C.
One proposed site is the Prince George Youth Custody Centre, which closed in 2023. Kane said it already has locked units, outdoor space, and program rooms that could be adapted for patient care.
鈥淚t鈥檒l probably be cheaper than building a whole new hospital,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut something has to happen. Things are not going to get better if we don鈥檛 do this.鈥�
Coun. Scott Elliot said it鈥檚 an issue that hits home for him.
鈥淢y wife is a nurse in our hospital here, and I can attest to everything that you're saying,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd quite honestly, at times it scares the heck out of me what's taking place when my wife is getting Code White training to be able to learn how to defend herself and others. It's frightening.鈥�
Code White training is a violence prevention and de-escalation program for healthcare workers.
鈥淪o, anything that we can do to help鈥擨 can鈥檛 speak for anybody else鈥攂ut I will do the best I can,鈥� Elliot said. 鈥淧lease don鈥檛 give up the fight.鈥�
Coun. Laurey-Anne Roodenburg pointed out that all health authorities in the province need to be involved.
鈥淭o say, 鈥楲isten, something needs to change.鈥欌�� I don't have the answer right now to how we make that happen, but I think if we're going to make this move forward, that's how it's going to have to be. It's going to have to be a big push from everybody.鈥�
