Cornwall Ontario — Spirits were high at a celebration held on February 11th when staff from the Adult Community Mental Health group were rejoicing in the completion of a continuous improvement project, that has improved the client referral process.

Previously, a client could get assessed multiple times which would mean that they would have to tell their story more than once and possibly get referred to another service. Now, The CCH Community Mental Health Single Point Access model has been developed to provide their clients with a “one door” entry point to services. The Mental Health Programs involved are Adult Counseling and Treatment Services (ACTS-under 65 team) Psychogeriatric Services (PS) Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) Outpatient Mental health (OPMH) First Episode Psychosis Program (FEPP).

After a month of trialing the new referral process, numbers show that clients are being contacted on average 3 business days after they are referred. Wait times have been reduced significantly.