Caring for mental health
We aim to make mental health care for children and youth more accessible so that every child can get the care they need, when they need it.
You can help make sure kids and youth have increased access to mental health care at the Stollery Children’s Hospital:
- 24/7 access to clinical emergency mental health services at the Stollery Emergency and through a crisis phone line service
- On-site services at the Walter C. Mackenzie Stollery site for kids and youth who present as low-risk as an alternative to waiting for an emergency department assessment
Our commitment
Navigating our complex health system can be a challenge for patients and families. Families don’t always know where to go for help, and there are often long wait times to get the necessary care.
To help close some of the gaps that exist when it comes to accessing vital child and adolescent mental health care, we’ve launched a five year, $6.5 million fundraising campaign to bring integrated, clinical mental health services to the Stollery Emergency.
By the numbers...
of Canadians are personally affected by mental health by age 40
of mental health problems begin in childhood and adolescence
of those who develop chronic mental health disorders show symptoms by age 14
We need your help to provide mental health patients and families access to care from specialized mental health teams:
- Specialized bedside support for kids and adolescents who present with mental health concerns
- Highly-trained child psychiatrists, therapists, nurses and social workers working alongside emergency physicians and clinical support staff to provide mental health examinations and risk assessments
- A specialized team who works with patients and families after a suicide attempt to make sure children and youth have access to available community supports before being discharged
But we still have a long way to go, as the demand and complexity of mental health cases are rising:
- In 2020-21, more than 2,552 visits to the Stollery Emergency were mental health cases, which is 907 more visits than the previous year
- Each day, the Stollery Emergency sees seven children in mental health crisis
- The complexity of mental health cases is increasing
Support child and youth mental health care at the Stollery:
Our commitment to mental health care extends beyond the Stollery's four walls
- We’ve supported Kickstand, connecting young Albertans with virtual mental health experts
- We’ve partnered with the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation to advance care for families at the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital, with funds supporting a youth mental health unit
- Since 2007, we’ve helped fund 155 pediatric mental health research projects at the University of Alberta through the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute
Contact us for more information about our mental health campaign