ETHP announces new role to bridge mental health services between hospital and community
With more than 25 years of experience working in mental health and addictions services, Raj Sohi is well positioned to take on East Toronto Health Partners’ (ETHP) first shared directorship role. On April 27, Raj began his new role as Director of Mental Health and Substance Use at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) and South Riverdale Community Health Centre. Previously, Sohi served as the director of mental health and addictions services at MGH.
The new position supports ETHP’s vision of creating a system without discharges and providing more seamless access to services for those living with mental health and substance use challenges in East Toronto.
“There are so many opportunities for us to work better together,” says Sohi, who spent 12 years leading mental health services at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. “By integrating patient pathways between hospital and community, we eliminate unnecessary barriers that so many of our clients face when navigating a complex health and community care system.”
East Toronto is comprised of approximately 300,000 people living in 21 diverse neighbourhoods, with five Neighbourhood Improvement Areas, including: Thorncliffe Park, Victoria Village, Oakridge, Flemingdon Park and Taylor-Massey. East Toronto has higher mental health and addictions needs than the Toronto average. Taylor Massey has one of the highest youth mental health Emergency Department utilization rates in the city.
For the past several months, Sohi has helped propel integrated mental health and addictions services forward in East Toronto by serving as the lead for two ETHP workstreams including: Youth mental health and addictions and adults with needs related to substance use and addictions. Sohi also supported the development of the Oakridge Health and Harm Reduction Hub, a three month pilot project that ran from February to April.
The goal of ETHP is to better connect health care sectors, including hospitals, community, home and primary care, in addition to other health care providers, to make it easier for clients and families to receive more integrated care close to home.
“This shared directorship role represents the next important step in our journey to create an integrated health care system that places patients at the centre of their care,” says Mark Fam, Vice President, Clinical Programs at MGH.
“SRCHC is excited to expand Raj’s shared directorship role to include operational oversight and support of SRCHC’s teams, strengthening the collaborative approach between SRCHC and MGH. This work is a natural progression of the partnerships being built as part of the East Toronto Health Partners and will drive deeper integration of services to our most marginalized clients in their communities,” says Jason Altenberg, Chief Executive Officer, South Riverdale Community Health Centre.
This article is brought to you by ETHP Communications Staff