The Toronto Star
July 12, 2011
The Highlights:
"Shortly after the provincial Legislature adjourned for the summer, the Ministry of Health began negotiating the hand-off of Ontario's Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office, an independent provincial agency, to the Canadian Mental Health Association.
There was no public announcement. A memo was sent to "stakeholders" (employees of the agency and hospitals providing psychiatric care) from Assistant Deputy Minister Patricia Li. "I am writing to advise you of a change being planned that will improve the lives of people living with mental illness," she said. "Integrating the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office's rights advice and advocacy services with the Canadian Mental Health Association's community-based mental health services will result in a more coordinated, patient-centred continuum of care."
The reaction from mental health activists was swift and negative."
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There was no public announcement. A memo was sent to "stakeholders" (employees of the agency and hospitals providing psychiatric care) from Assistant Deputy Minister Patricia Li. "I am writing to advise you of a change being planned that will improve the lives of people living with mental illness," she said. "Integrating the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office's rights advice and advocacy services with the Canadian Mental Health Association's community-based mental health services will result in a more coordinated, patient-centred continuum of care."
The reaction from mental health activists was swift and negative."
