A 13-bed youth mental health treatment facility is undergoing major renovations to add two more beds for urgent care.
Safety and security upgrades to Ledger House, located in Saanich’s Queenswood neighbourhood, will be taking place until January 2015. The work includes putting in capacity for four beds in the facility’s Special Care Unit, which treats kids and teens who require urgent service or short-term stabilization for conditions like active mania, suicidal attempts and psychosis.
The current Special Care Unit has two beds, with a third internal bed for youth admitted to other Ledger units who require short-term crisis stabilization, said Sarah Plank, Island Health spokesperson.
The two additional beds won’t be filled upon completion unless additional funding is secured to operate them, Plank said.
“[The beds] can be available based on organization and community priorities and human and fiscal resources in the future,” she said.
Farmers Construction was awarded the work, while Topline Construction is completing a concurrent two-month roofing project at Ledger House.
“We are maintaining full operations during both construction projects, mindful of strict safety considerations,” Plank said.
Ledger House is for kids aged six to 16 who require hospitalized psychiatric care as a result of mental health issues such as trauma, anxiety, complex ADHD or depression.
Ledger serves all of Vancouver Island. Most patients are voluntarily admitted, with the recommendation of a doctor, and the average stay is about a month.
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