Restructuring raises ire

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The negative fallout from a massive revamping of mental health services in 1998 is being felt throughout Northern Ontario. The reorganization ordered by the Mike Harris Conservative government virtually eliminated local control of services in favour of regional decision-making.

Native community mental health workers who gathered for professional development workshops in Sudbury recently could not ignore the controversy in their midst.

Ever since the Ontario Health Services Restructuring Commission merged mental health services and eliminated community-based programs, the voices of protest have been growing stronger. Recently a lobby group known as Mental Health Advocates stepped up its campaign to restore local control of mental health services.

Dr. Rayudu Koka, chief of staff at the Northeast Mental Health Centre (NEMHC), had joined the advocates in pressing for a return to the former Network North model of service delivery.

After he spoke out on the issue, Dr. Koka was suspended from the NEMHC board of directors and then dismissed as chief of staff Oct. 22.

Community reaction was swift and passionate. Prominent leaders in social services and political circles protested the firing and demanded that NEMHC reinstate the man described as a champion of the mentally ill.

Grand Council Chief John Beaucage, the newly elected leader of the Anishinabek Nation, voiced the collective frustration of the North when he addressed the Native mental health conference Oct. 26. He called for elimination of the regional governance model in favour of one that better serves the needs of communities.

Beaucage supports returning to the Network North community clinic model which was dismantled by the Tories.

"What we are looking at is having community-based services and delivering those services within the communities so that those people needing that service don't have to travel somewhere or live outside their community to get the kind of help they need," he said.

In the chief's view, the present system is unwieldy.

"The Anishinabek Nation is calling on all stakeholders and the Ministry of Health to re-examine the structure of the Northeast Mental Health Centre with the goal of improving access and local service delivery where it is needed in the community," Beaucage said.

The United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin (UCCM) also criticized the "bullying" tactics of the NEMHC.

The tribal council has demanded that the minister of Health intervene in the dismissal of the well-respected psychiatrist.

Joe Laford, a wellness worker in Sheshegwaning First Nation, has witnessed the operation of the NEMHC board first hand. He served on the board of directors for six months before resigning in frustration.

"The mandate of the board includes Native mental health services," he said. "However, they never identified what those services were. I resigned because I couldn't make any changes. I saw the deterioration in the frontline services. It was very discouraging."