February 12, 2019
EDMONTON — A new centre for child and adolescent mental health is in the works for Edmonton following a historic commitment from the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation.
The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centre will be built on AHS-owned land immediately east of the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. It will include: child and adolescent crisis services, including walk-in and urgent clinics; 101 inpatient beds; specialized outpatient clinics; a mobile response team; intensive school-based treatment, with school programming on site; mental health programs; therapeutic recreational programs and a family resource centre.
The Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation is investing $26 million into the facility — one of the single largest commitments AHS has ever received — and will receive the naming rights for the centre in recognition of that contribution. The province is also investing $200 million. The announcement was made Feb. 11.
“Alberta Health Services is grateful to the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation for its extraordinary commitment to child and adolescent mental health in Edmonton and northern Alberta,” says Dr. Verna Yiu, president and CEO, Alberta Health Services.
“This support will have a transformational and long-lasting impact on patients and families who will benefit from the care and services provided in this facility.”
Mike House, president and CEO of the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, says more than 90 per cent of donors and non-donors surveyed in northern Alberta say mental health is a top priority for them and their families.
“That’s why we’re building on our long-term commitment to children’s mental health by raising $26 million over five years for specialized facilities and family-centred care programs at the new child and youth addiction and mental health centre in Edmonton that will bear the Stollery name.”
Annie Belley, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teen, shared her personal journey at the Feb. 11 announcement. She says the new centre will make a lasting difference for patients and their families.
“This new facility is so exciting because it will not only make it easier for mental health care practitioners to provide help and for patients to access services, it will act as physical, observable proof that mental health is finally being paid the attention it deserves.”
The design phase of the project is expected to get underway in the next few months. Construction of the centre is slated to begin spring 2021 with completion in 2024.
To learn more about the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation’s commitment to child and adolescent mental health, please visit stollerykids.com/mentalhealth and donate at stollerykids.com/donate.
Visit AHS.ca/give for a full list of Alberta’s health foundations.
