Supporting recovery with compassion and respect
Recovery looks different for everyone. At VCH, we are strengthening mental health and substance use care so people can access support that is respectful, timely and grounded in dignity.
Across Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), we are evolving mental health and substance use (MHSU) care to better meet people where they are. Over the past year, new services, new homes and stronger partnerships have helped us build a more connected system of support, one that is grounded in dignity, compassion and timely access to care.
One of our most significant steps forward has been the opening of Alouette Homes. These two homes, with space for 18 residents, were designed for people who need long-term mental health care in an environment that feels safe, calm and familiar. For years, many of these individuals lived in high security hospital units because of the complexity of their mental health and substance use needs. Alouette Homes changes that.
Today, residents are welcomed into a home-like setting where meals are shared, natural light fills the rooms, and care teams tailor support to each person’s goals. As the first services of their kind in British Columbia, these homes offer people not just treatment, but comfort, stability and a true sense of belonging.
Across Vancouver, other improvements are also helping people access care earlier and closer to home. At Venture House, our short-term crisis intervention and stabilization program, we added four new beds, expanding our ability to support people in urgent need. The program provides counselling; crisis support and a safe alternative to hospitalization for people experiencing mental health challenges.
The City of Vancouver has also welcomed 42 new MHSU supported housing units, including Acorn House at Oak Care Centre and Granville Gate. Each new home represents another person with a stable supportive place to live while accessing the care they need.
To respond more effectively during urgent mental health crises, we strengthened our longstanding partnership with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) through the Car 87/88 program. Now operating with two response cars instead of one, the program pairs psychiatric nurses with officers to provide specialized, health-focused support directly in the community, resulting in a 44 per cent increase in service.
Inside the VPD’s Operational Command Centre, VCH nurses now help triage calls in real time. By bringing a clinical perspective where appropriate, we divert an average of five to seven calls each day away from police response and toward VCH health teams. These changes reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and help people get the right care faster.
Improvements to Access Central have resulted in a drop in wait times of 69.5 per cent - with the most urgent cases now receiving care within 24 hours.
We have made improvements to Access Central, where VCH, Providence Health Care and the Regional Addiction Program transformed withdrawal management services. Through a strengthened clinical team, triage based on urgency, same-day treatment starts in the community, and 20 new Road to Recovery beds at St. Paul’s Hospital, wait times have dropped by 69.5 per cent. Most urgent cases now receive care within 24 hours, while the average wait for others has been reduced to just four to six days.
Together, these advancements reflect our coordinated and compassionate approach to care, one that recognizes that recovery looks different for everyone, and that timely, respectful support can make all the difference.
