There was a celebratory mood at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health‘s Queen West campus Thursday morning, as the facility officially opened three new buildings designed not only to fight mental illness, but the stigma that surrounds it.
As modern and attractive as any other development springing up in Toronto, the new buildings place an emphasis on light, colour, and nature, and in form as well as function were built to heal.
Floor to ceiling windows look out over parks and green spaces, living quarters are modeled on dorm rooms instead of traditional hospital suites, and new streets and on-site retail shops integrate the hospital into the surrounding neighbourhood.
“These new facilities are that physical representation of dignity and inclusion, and we believe that our property plays a part in the recovery of the people that we serve,” CAMH president Dr. Catherine Zahn told the hundreds of people who endured soaring temperatures to attend Thursday’s ribbon cutting ceremony. “It reflects the dynamism of our exciting neighbourhood, and it contributes to the stature of our fantastic city.
“With this wonderful investment in our facilities, we say to our patients, ‘we’ll never give up on you.'”
The Queen West site has been a hub for Torontonians suffering from mental health problems since 1850, but the new CAMH is a far cry from the infamous asylum that stood on the property until 1976.
The Bell Gateway Building features amenities not found in most mental health facilities, including a prayer space, gymnasium, and even a credit union where clients can do their banking. An on-site coffee shop, the Out of This World Café, is staffed by CAMH consumers.
The Intergenerational Wellness Centre that houses CAMH’s child, youth, and family program includes a basketball court and playground, as well as the country’s first unit dedicated to youth with co-occurring mental health and addiction issues. The unit’s twelve modern bedrooms have private bathrooms, “non-institutional” lighting and furniture, and a desk where kids can do schoolwork as part of the in-house academic program.
Both structures will house a mix of in- and outpatient client services, as well as CAMH offices.
A third building houses parking and utilities, and contains an energy efficient plant that provides the other two buildings with heating and cooling.
The new development totals 539,000 square feet and cost $293 million to build. It was funded by through a public private partnership between the province and Carillion Health Solutions, as well as an $108-million fundraising drive that CAMH says was the world’s largest ever campaign for a mental health hospital.
