LONDON - MPP Peggy Sattler (London West), Teresa Armstrong (London-Fanshawe) and Terence Kernaghan (London North Centre) called on the Minister of Health to address the urgent need for increased provincial investment to ensure program sustainability and equitable staff compensation at CMHA Thames Valley.
Read their full letter below.
Hon. Sylvia Jones
Minister of Health
5th Floor, 777 Bay St
Toronto, ON M7A 2J3
August 7, 2024
Dear Minister Jones,
We are writing as London MPPs to bring to your attention the crisis at Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Mental Health and Addiction Services (CMHATV), and the urgent need for increased provincial investment to ensure program sustainability and equitable compensation for dedicated CMHATV staff.
As you know, CMHA Thames Valley was formed in 2021 following the merger of Addiction Services of Thames Valley with the Elgin, Middlesex, and Oxford branches of the Canadian Mental Health Association. It is one of the largest CMHA branches in the country, providing essential mental health and addictions services to more than 17,000 clients through in-person treatment, case management, peer support, and wellness programs, and supportive housing for more than 1,000 individuals experiencing homelessness. In addition, the CMHATV Crisis Centre in London facilitates almost 20,000 crisis response interactions and over 43,000 phone-based crisis and support line interactions. These vital programs and services not only benefit patients and their families and help prevent individuals from going into crisis, they also limit unnecessary visits to overcrowded emergency departments and enable police and ambulance drop-off at the Crisis Centre, freeing up first responders to respond to emergencies instead of being tied up in the hospital.
By alleviating pressure on first responders, front-line hospital staff, and other health care providers, CMHATV contributes significantly to reducing overall health care system costs while improving quality of life for clients. Yet, despite considerable evidence demonstrating the value of community-based mental health and addiction services, decades of chronic underfunding of the sector has meant that the workers who provide these services earn up to 30 percent less than comparable workers in other health care settings. In the face of rising demand for community-based mental health and addiction services, increasing complexity of client needs, and a surge in opioid-related harms and substance use, CMHATV staff face heavier workloads than ever, leading to unprecedented levels of burnout and staff turnover, with a staff vacancy rate of approximately 23 percent.
To address human resource pressures and remedy long-standing compensation inequities, CMHATV’s first collective agreement with OPSEU in January 2024 included a well-deserved pay increase for CMHATV workers. Since 86% of CMHA Thames Valley’s budget goes to salaries and benefits, this has resulted in a $2.6 million deficit in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, the first deficit in the agency’s history. Balancing the books has required some difficult decisions, including restructuring services and decreasing staff complement through unfilled vacancies, reductions in hours, and early retirement/early exit packages. Throughout this process, CMHATV has been committed to maintaining services as much as possible; however, the agency is now forced to consider the elimination of 30 full-time positions as early as September. This will make continued levels of service provision challenging, if not impossible, leading to longer wait times, increased pressure on emergency services, and reduced access to community mental health and addictions services during a worsening opioid crisis.
While the recent five percent base budget increase provided by your government was welcome, it did not address the decade of stagnant underfunding for the community mental health and addictions sector and is insufficient to meet growing operational costs and service demands. It is also concerning that many CMHATV programs are dependent on grants, donations, and in-kind gifts to sustain optimal service delivery, leaving these programs vulnerable to closure and without the ability to engage in long-term planning or commit to long-term care. Further, we note that CMHATV’s Multi-Sector Service Accountability Agreement includes unfunded requirements for CMHATV to develop and advance Indigenous health strategies as well as Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism strategies. We fully support the development and implementation of these critical strategies, but question why no additional financial resources were allocated to cover the estimated $346,000 annual cost to CMHATV of engaging in this important work.
Minister, it is clear that without another permanent and stable funding increase, CMHATV will continue to face more deficits in future years, as will other CMHA branches across Ontario, forcing cuts to vital programs and staffing. Surely, your government understands that providing funding to community-based mental health and addictions services like those offered by CMHA Thames Valley is a smart investment – they ensure low-barrier access and high quality of care for those who require mental health supports and are much more cost-effective and time-effective than relying on hospital visits and emergency responses. Just as surely, we hope your government agrees that dedicated and caring mental health and addictions workers deserve to be fairly compensated for the truly life-saving work they do.
We call upon your government to immediately provide the permanent base funding increase necessary to ensure the stability and sustainability of CMHATV community-based mental health and addictions services and fair compensation for CMHATV staff. We look forward to your timely response.
Sincerely,
Peggy Sattler, MPP London West
Teresa Armstrong, MPP London-Fanshawe
Terence Kernaghan, MPP London North Centre