Province names commissioner to review mental health and addictions issues

The Saskatchewan government has appointed a commissioner to lead the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for the province.

The province appointed Saskatoon-based clinical psychologist Dr. Fern Stockdale Winder to the post. She will advise Minister of Health Dustin Duncan in the development of a plan to strengthen interventions for mental health and addictions issues, a provincial government press release said.

The front-line clinician for the past 15 years will lead a review of mental health and addictions services in Saskatchewan and willcome up withrecommendationsfor the Minister of Health in the fall of 2014.

"Our top priority is to find out from the residents of Saskatchewan what it is they're really looking for in terms of what improvements need to be made to mental health and addictions services in Saskatchewan," Stockdale Winder said.

"Access has certainly been something that people talk about a lot and in particular with a population as far flung as ours the access in rural and remote areas is sometimes really problematic. So that would be something I think probably I'd want to be having a close look at."

Stockdale Winderhas served on the Board of Directors of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.