Toronto police launch pilot to speed up transfer of care for individuals apprehended under Mental Health Act

Toronto police are launching a one-year pilot program in collaboration with three Toronto hospital networks to expedite the transfer of care for individuals apprehended under the Mental Health Act.

The Toronto Police Service issued a news release on Wednesday, saying two District Special Constables will now be stationed at hospitals within the University Health Network, Unity Health Toronto and Humber River Health as Integrated Hospital Officers (IHOs).

The constables will assume the transfer of apprehended persons from police officers upon their arrival at the hospitals, the service said in the news release. The program will operate in the emergency departments and will be specific to mental health apprehensions.

Currently, sworn police officers who apprehend someone under the Mental Health Act must remain at the hospital with the apprehended person, often for several hours, the service said.

The pilot will operate 18 hours a day, seven days a week.

Police will now be stationed at Humber River Health, UHN's Toronto Western Hospital and Unity Health Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital. Each hospital has allocated a designated space near the triage area for the officers.

"We look forward to working with our partners at the Toronto Police Service on this important initiative," Marnie Escaf, clinical vice-president at UHN, said in the news release. "This project will allow for a better transition to hospital care in our Emergency Department, while also helping destigmatize the experience of patients living with mental illness."

Meanwhile, Police Chief Myron Demkiw said he was "pleased" to collaborate with Toronto police's hospital partners.

"We know the community wants police officers where they are needed most and this pilot supports our commitment to improving call response times to better serve our communities," he said.

"This pilot aims to return our frontline members to their core policing responsibilities faster and reduce the time it takes to transition those experiencing mental health issues to the hospital's care."