Children and young people needing help with addiction and mental health issues could have access to a new clinic in Dartmouth by the fall.
About 40 staff from the IWK Health Centre will provide mental health and addiction treatment services in Mic Mac Mall in an expanded space that formerly housed the Winners store.
Maureen Brennan, who oversees these services, said patients would have access to a multidisciplinary team.
“It will provide comprehensive services from a wide range of mental health and addictions clinicians, including psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, youth care workers, recreational therapists and child and adolescent psychiatrists,” Brennan said in an interview Thursday.
The clinic will provide individual and group therapy for children, young people, parents and carers, she said.
This is the IWK’s first time setting up a clinic inside a shopping mall, but Brennan said the Dartmouth location was chosen because of its ease of access.
“It makes sense to have clinics located throughout HRM so families don’t have to come to the IWK Health Centre downtown to find parking,” she said.
“It’s very accessible, there’s lots of parking, and it’s a great opportunity for us to create a space that is healing and trauma-informed in a new way.”
Staff will be made up of clinicians and support staff from other IWK clinics in Halifax, Bedford, Lower Sackville and Dartmouth, including new and recently hired employees.
Brennan said there are no plans to close any other facilities.
“We plan to recruit several clinicians from each office to fill these new positions.”
The hospital first began looking for new space when it launched an open call in June 2020. When that was unsuccessful, Brennan said, the hospital hired a leasing agent to search for space, eventually landing on the Mic Mac Mall site.
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