Community Mental Health Program

The WAHA Community Mental Health & Addictions Program works in collaboration with organizations in the region to provide culturally appropriate services to our First Nations clients and to incorporate traditional healing practices, as needed.

The Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program (OSP) offers a variety of service options that help those who are struggling with mild to moderate anxiety, depression, and anxiety related concerns. The program is available to anyone over the age of 18.

All referrals begin at Health Sciences North as the lead agency. For more information on OSP, ways you can refer, and where the services are delivered, please visit www.neosp.ca. 

You can fill out a referral form online on their website or
you can call 1-833-49-NEOSP (1-833-496-3677). The service accepts self-referrals.

The Community Mental Health & Addictions Program has consulting psychiatrists from Sinai Health and TADH who conduct client sessions virtually on a weekly basis and provide in-person support once a month in Moosonee and Moose Factory. In-person psychiatry services have also been extended to the coastal communities with the goal of providing these in-person services at least two times a year in each of the four coastal communities.

The telemedicine service provides easier access to a psychiatrist. This technology also helps staff to participate in meetings when face-to-face is not possible.

Services through this program are offered to people 16 and older in all six communities. Once the Mental Health referral form is completed, it must be faxed to Central Intake at (705) 336-2746 or to self-refer, one can call our Central Intake team at 705-336-2164 and request to do it over the phone. The intake team will contact the potential client to review the program’s services and limits of confidentiality. If the client consents to services, they are added to the waitlist for the next available Mental Health professional. Once the client has been assigned a mental health worker, they will be contacted by the worker to initiate services. Counselling for clients under the age of 16 is not provided by the WAHA Community Mental Health and Addictions Program. However, a Youth Wellness Worker from Child and Youth Milopemahtesewin Services can be contacted with client/parent consent.

Once the Psychiatry Consultation referral form is completed by a physician or nurse practitioner, it must be faxed to central intake at (705) 336-2746. The intake team will contact the client to provide details about the psychiatric services and then an appointment will be booked with a psychiatrist. A TADH contracted psychiatrist offers telemedicine services (18+ years of age) for Form 1 clients returning to the region. The Sinai Health group of Psychiatrists offers in-person and telemedicine services (16+ years of age). Clients will have to come to their local hospital, nursing station, or clinic for their in-person or OTN appointments. Home visits are occasionally available depending on the client’s community. Psychiatrists provide sessions and work with service users and primary care providers to monitor and adjust medications for optimal health.

The Early Psychosis Intervention program promotes the psychological wellbeing of clients (aged 16-35) who have experienced their first episode of psychosis through counselling, case management and family interventions. Once the client has been assigned to a clinician, the clinician assists the client with navigating their diagnosis and connecting them with the appropriate mental health resources.

The primary goal of the Court Diversion program is to advocate for clients with mental health conditions by diverting them away from the criminal justice system and towards more appropriate community mental health services.

Weeneebayko Area Health Authority offers support to community members who are experiencing a mental health crisis. These supports look different whether the individual is an adult or a youth and whether they present to the facility during office hours or off-hours.

WAHA’s crisis social service workers are located at Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory and the Mental Health building in Moosonee. The crisis workers provide support to those 16+ who present to the hospital, the Mental Health building in Moosonee, or the Moosonee Health Clinic in a mental health crisis. They are available for walk-in sessions. The crisis workers are available to complete risk assessments and work with clients to create safety plans tailored to them. If people are in an acute mental health crisis and present in the emergency room, the physician or nurses may contact the crisis worker during working hours if they are available and if the client wishes to speak to them. If there is no crisis worker, HSN OTN Services must be utilized.