The Bas-Saint-Laurent Integrated Health Center and the Rimouski Health Foundation confirm the end of work in the 1C psychiatry unit of the Rimouski Regional Hospital. Valued at $4.1 million, they made this environment safer and more functional for users and employees.
The 1C is a closed psychiatric hospitalization unit which welcomes users with mental health problems for short and medium-term stays.
It has eight rooms that can accommodate a total of 14 patients, as well as a secure area that can accommodate four other people.
This care unit welcomes more than 500 users on average each year.
“This is what we often expect as mental health has long been a poor relation in health in Quebec. There is a catch-up currently taking place with several investments that are in the works. Is this enough? I will let people be judged. For 1C, it was necessary to give it the appearance of a care unit and ensure the safety of the people who come here and the nursing staff,” estimates the director of mental health and dependency programs at the CISSS, Éric St-Jean.
Access control
The work, which lasted two years, notably made it possible to improve the security of the premises by modifying the access controls to the unit, to make the guard post more secure and better adapted to the needs of the staff, to upgrade update the layout of the rooms, air-condition the common areas and add more secure specialized furniture.
The Fondation Santé Rimouski injected $572,000 into this work.
