New mental-health clinic on P.E.I. will offer help for veterans closer to home

The federal government is opening a mental-health clinic in Stratford, P.E.I., for service members suffering from operational stress injuries.

The clinic will serve veterans, Armed Forces members, and RCMP. It will be a satellite site of the clinic in Fredericton, which is operated by Horizon Health Network.

"You can't have service in every town in the country, but it was certainly a pleasure for me to be able to see that we have it here on Prince Edward Island,"saidVeterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay.

"It's a satellite office, but the fact is it will have all the professional services that they have in New Brunswick."

MacAulay said the federal government has allocated $500,000 to establish the clinic.

Services closer to home

The clinic will provide one-on-one therapy and group sessions, treating issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depressionand insomnia.

The Fredericton clinic, which covers New Brunswick, P.E.I.and Newfoundland and Labrador, has already been serving P.E.I. residents.

Owen Parkhousemade monthly visits to the Fredericton clinic between 2008 and 2013for help with post traumatic stress disorder. He said he had positive experiences at the clinic, but making the trip was sometimes a challenge, particularly when experiencing low energy levels as a result of his PTSD.

He's glad other veterans will soon have access to services closer to home.

"You sort of develop a rapport with someone when you're going through the help that you need to get. And I think with someone being in the place that you are, you can probably see them a little more frequently," Parkhouse said.

"I think seeing someone once a month was difficult for me. There was that space and time where I could have used more help, and I didn't get it because of the distance."

'The need is certainly there'

Government officials said between May 2008 and July 2019, the Fredericton clinic served 82 Islanders.Sixty four of those were veterans, 16 were active RCMP members, and two were active Armed Forces members.

"We've seen a steady increase in referrals from the Island, so we know that the need is certainly there, and we're ready to meet that need," said Dr. Julie Devlin, manager of the New Brunswick clinic.

Devlin said the P.E.I. satellite clinic will start out with three staff members a clinician, apsychiatric nurseand an administrator. She said wait times will be monitored, and staffing will be expanded if necessary.

Officials said the new clinic is expected to open in early 2020.

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