BRAMPTON, ON, Jan. 27, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Bell Let's Talk
today announced a donation of $420,000 to William Osler Health System (Osler)
to support a new repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
(rTMS) Clinic at Osler's Brampton Civic Hospital. The clinic is
part of Osler's innovative Stepped Care Program that provides
leading-edge, high-intensity treatment for patients with mental
illness.
"Bell Let's Talk is proud to support improved access to the
latest innovations in mental health care through Osler's Stepped
Care Program at Brampton Civic Hospital," said Mary Deacon, Chair of Bell Let's Talk. "The
addition of an rTMS clinic to the program will make a real
difference in the lives of people in Brampton and the surrounding area who are
living with mental illnesses."
rTMS is an innovative treatment for people with major depression
and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for whom medication may
not be effective or an option. The safe, non-invasive treatments
use a magnetic field to stimulate nerve cells in the brain that are
involved in controlling emotions. With repeated treatments, the
magnetic pulses impact how the brain is working, to ease depression
symptoms and improve mood, with little or no discomfort. With the
Bell Let's Talk donation, Osler will be able to acquire and install
a full rTMS suite, while an additional donation of $50,000 from Osler's team of psychiatrists
themselves will double the number of patients that can be treated
at any one time.
"Osler's Mental Health and Addictions Department receives
about 1,400 outpatient referrals each month, and 70% of these are
for depression treatment," said Kiki
Ferrari, Executive Vice President, Clinical Operations,
William Osler Health System. "Thanks to this donation from Bell
Let's Talk, Osler has become one of Ontario's first community hospitals to
offer rTMS treatment, providing an innovative option for the
growing number of patients who will benefit from additional
treatment and support through their mental health journey."
Osler has one of the largest Mental Health and Addictions
community hospital programs in the province, consisting of
emergency, inpatient and outpatient services across its three
sites. Osler's Brampton Civic Hospital and Etobicoke General
Hospital emergency departments see the largest number of patients
with mental health and addictions illness in Ontario.
"The rTMS treatment is invaluable, particularly for patients who
have treatment resistant depression and those who do not tolerate
medications due to their side effects," said Dr. Razi Sayeed, Corporate Chief of Psychiatry and
Medical Director, William Osler Health System. "This incredible
gift will have an immediate and direct impact on our patients and
we are grateful for the support, which allows us to reach more
people with innovative care."
In 2019, Osler's Mental Health and Addictions Program
implemented an innovative model of care – the Stepped Care Program
– to simplify the way people access mental health and addictions
outpatient services and help them connect with the right treatment
options. Through the program's four-step approach, patients' needs
are matched with the level of service they receive, reserving the
most intense, resource-rich services for patients with the most
complex needs. The program has successfully doubled Osler's
outpatient programming and intervention services, all without
changes to staffing, space or resources.
"This donation from Bell Let's Talk provides leading edge
treatment for mental health patients in our community
– particularly those who currently must travel to downtown
Toronto for treatment," said
Ken Mayhew, President and CEO,
Osler Foundation. "We are also
grateful that Dr. Razi Sayeed and
his team of psychiatrists have stepped up and provided their own
donations to purchase a second rTMS machine – doubling capacity for
patients to receive state-of-the-art mental health care close to
home."
Bell Let's Talk Day is January
29
Osler joins Bell in inviting everyone to take part
in the mental health conversation on Bell Let's Talk Day. Bell will
donate 5 cents to Canadian mental
health programs for each of these communications on January 29, at no extra cost to
participants beyond what they would normally pay their service
providers for online or phone access:
- Talk: Every mobile and every long distance call made by Bell
wireless and phone customers
- Text: Every text message sent by Bell wireless customers
- Twitter: Every tweet and retweet using #BellLetsTalk, featuring
the special Bell Let's Talk emoji, and every Bell Let's Talk Day
video view at Twitter.com/Bell_LetsTalk
- Facebook: Every Bell Let's Talk Day video view at
Facebook.com/BellLetsTalk and every use of the Bell Let's Talk
frame
- Instagram: Every Bell Let's Talk Day video view at
Instagram.com/Bell_LetsTalk
- Snapchat: Every use of the Bell Let's Talk filter and every
Bell Let's Talk Day video view
- YouTube: Every Bell Let's Talk Day video view at
YouTube.com/BellCanada
About Bell Let's Talk
The Bell Let's Talk mental
health initiative is focused on 4 key action pillars: Anti-stigma,
Care and Access, Research and Workplace Leadership. Since its
launch in September 2010, Bell Let's
Talk has partnered with more than 1,000 organizations providing
mental health services throughout Canada, including hospitals,
universities and other care and research organizations. To learn
more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
About William Osler Health System and
Foundation
William Osler Health System is a hospital system,
which includes Brampton Civic Hospital, Peel Memorial Centre for
Integrated Health and Wellness and Etobicoke General Hospital, and
serves 1.3 million residents of Brampton, Etobicoke and surrounding communities within
the Central West region. Osler's emergency departments are among
the busiest in Canada and its
labour and delivery program is one of the largest in the province.
William Osler Health System Foundation seeks to create a healthier
community through giving by inspiring its communities to invest in
exceptional health care close to home.
Media inquiries:
Donna Harris
Manager, Public Relations and Digital Media
William Osler Health System
416-543-9294
donna.harris@williamoslerhs.ca
Nathan Gibson
Bell
905-614-9596
nathan.gibson@bell.ca
@Bell_News
@Bell_LetsTalk
SOURCE Bell Canada