Mental health services wait time around 2 weeks says Northern Health

Patients looking to seek mental health services in the Bulkley Valley will be contacted within two weeks.

According to Northern Health, it depends on how acute the patients need is. In some cases, patients may be seen immediately where others may have to wait.

Bart Newman, Interprofessional Team Lead with Northern Health said wait times can be kept low by health care professionals connecting each patient to the correct service.

“Our Northern Health services are not always the right service and sometimes it makes more sense to connect someone to a partner organization, a non-profit or a private therapist who might be doing the work,” he said,

Newman also said mental health services in the North can see a larger variety of patients and offer services that may not be available in health authorities in the south.

“The need in the city is so large that really only patients with very acute psychiatric needs tend to get followed by health authority mental health teams. They refer other patients on to other partner organizations I think with a little bit more frequency then we have to do here,” he said.

Newman added ways to get involved with the mental health system can be through a doctor, self-referral, hospital or a concerned family member.

After being referred, a patient will need to send a service request or talk to the receptionist at Northern Health’s mental health services office.