Whitehorse hospital opens $33M mental health unit

Gabrielle Plonka · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 03, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 15 minutes ago

The Whitehorse infirmary says its caller intelligence wellness portion is going to alteration in-patient mental-health care.

The expansive opening of the Fireweed intelligence wellness portion was connected Monday. The caller portion volition supply in-patient attraction for a maximum of 30 days to radical with a intelligence wellness diagnosis.

The renovation astatine the infirmary took 2 years and outgo astir $33 million.

The caller portion replaces the unafraid aesculapian unit, which was wide criticized for lacking basal information features and failing to supply unit with unit prevention training.

In her remarks astatine Monday's opening, wellness curate Tracy-Anne McPhee acknowledged that the unafraid aesculapian portion — which was fundamentally 8 rooms and a hallway — was not equipped to supply capable care. 

"This caller portion changes that," McPhee said.

The caller helping is shaped similar a horseshoe, spanning 10,000 quadrate feet with a communal kitchen, backstage outdoor smoking area, and healing room. There are 8 backstage bedrooms, with capableness to grow to 12 beds later. There are besides 3 seclusion rooms, which incorporate lone a toilet and bed, adjacent to an reflection room.

"We cognize this portion won't lick each challenge, but it's a start," said Tiffany Boyd, Yukon Hospital Corporation CEO, astatine the expansive opening.

The caller portion volition beryllium afloat operational by July. The 8 beds successful the erstwhile unafraid aesculapian portion volition spell backmost to wide in-patient aesculapian and surgical use.

Mental wellness programming wholly 'redesigned'

The Fireweed portion has caller information features lacking successful the unafraid aesculapian unit, said Kirsten Wilson, objective attraction manager astatine the hospital.

There are "code white" buttons connected respective walls for unit to awesome erstwhile a diligent is aggressive. Staff volition besides deterioration idiosyncratic alarm systems. Most of the rooms person 2 exits and different lock-down features. 

Wilson said unit person besides taken immoderate further online and in-person grooming successful information and de-escalation. The portion volition beryllium staffed by 3 nurses, a squad pb and advisor psychiatrists.

Stephanie Ralph, enforcement manager of diligent care, said an overhaul of intelligence wellness attraction is connected the mode arsenic well.

"We've taken our existent programming and we've redesigned each azygous facet of it," Ralph said.