Last week, on a beautiful mid-October afternoon, we were pleased to welcome the Honourable Michelle Cooper, the new Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and MPP for Eglinton–Lawrence, for her first visit to CAMH’s Queen Street site.
The visit gave us an opportunity to introduce Minister Cooper to CAMH, share the people and ideas driving our work, and show how we’re transforming mental health and addictions care, advancing research and improving outcomes for the people we serve.
CAMH President and CEO Sarah Downey, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Partnerships Lori Spadorcia, and Director of Public Affairs Erica Di Maio welcomed Minister Cooper and kicked off the visit with a look at CAMH’s transformation and vision for the future.
From there, the group visited the Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan Emergency Department, Canada’s largest psychiatric emergency department, which served more than 15,000 people last year. Dr. Juveria Zaheer, Medical Head of the Emergency Department, and Dr. Leslie Buckley, Chief of Addictions, shared how their teams work together to provide compassionate, specialized care for people experiencing mental health and addictions crises.
The next stop offered a closer look at forensic mental health care. Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Sumeeta Chatterjee and Forensic Clinical Director Tania Saccoccio welcomed Minister Cooper to Unit 3-3 to introduce her to the Forensic division and model of care.
They then hosted a roundtable discussion with Sham Hishmeh, Senior Manager, Office of the Person-Charge (OPIC), Thea Rifol, Nurse Team Lead, Forensic Secure Unit B, and Ramish Shahab, Advanced Practice Clinical Leader to talk about their team’s work, the challenges and opportunities they see, and what they’re looking forward to about the new Waverley House Secure Care & Recovery Building.
At the Tour de Bleu Therapeutic Neighbourhood, Jordanne Holland, Clinical Director, Geriatrics, Adult Neurodevelopment Services, Social Support Services and Medical Affairs, shared how therapeutic programming supports recovery, well-being and connection.
The group also stopped at the Phase 1D redevelopment site to see the progress taking shape on two future buildings: Waverley House Secure Care & Recovery Building, which will house forensic mental health services, and the Temerty Discovery Centre, which will advance research and discovery when it opens next year!
The tour wrapped up at the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention, where Scientific Director Dr. Daniel Blumberger shared how CAMH brings research and clinical care together to improve treatment for people living with hard-to-treat mental illness. The team’s work with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), an effective alternative to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for many patients, has helped thousands of people. CAMH’s leadership and advocacy have helped expand access to rTMS across Ontario.
From emergency and forensic mental health care to therapeutic programming, innovative treatments, research and redevelopment, each stop offered a glimpse of the expertise, compassion and collaboration CAMH teams bring to their work every day.
Visits like this give us an important opportunity to connect directly with government partners, bring CAMH’s work to life and share both the progress we’re making and where we want to go next.
Together, we’re building momentum toward stronger mental health and addictions care for people across Ontario and beyond.
