S5 Ep5: Reducing hospital admissions for mental health crises by bridging hospital and community care featuring Alanna Summers, Jennifer Sandberg and Jane Dolan

In this episode we feature another award-winning, quality improvement project this time based in Victoria, Vancouver Island. Our guests are Alanna Summers, Program Manager and a registered psychiatric nurse, Jennifer Sandburg, Team Lead occupational therapist, and Jane Dolan, MHSU Clinical recreational therapist, from the South Island Mental Health and Substance Use team. Starting with the gap in care they first identified, they take us through how they developed their cost effective and successful Bridging Care program for patients in mental health crisis. This program not only provides effective, patient-centered care but has also reduced hospital admissions and inpatient length of stay. We hear how local healthcare leadership had the foresight to support the original vision, powerful testimonials from some of the program’s patients, and how developing the program itself brought positive benefits to the provider team. Links:Counselling, Treatment & Recovery | Island HealthNewsAdults experiencing mental health challenges benefit from Island Health’s Bridging Care Program | Island Health