The Royal’s Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic will provide specialized support and services for people who experience psychosis due to schizophrenia
OTTAWA, September 14, 2022 - The Ozerdinc Grimes family of Ottawa has donated $2.5M to The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (The Royal). This philanthropic leadership will enable The Royal to launch a new community-based clinic to help people living with schizophrenia and their families.
The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic will provide specialized care and support for individuals who experience psychosis due to a schizophrenia spectrum disorder.
“The Royal is deeply committed to improving access to mental health care. This is not something that we do alone, it takes collaboration with partners throughout our community including visionary donors like the Ozerdinc Grimes family,” says Joanne Bezzubetz, president and CEO of The Royal. “The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic will be a place where individuals and families can find hope and get the support they need to live the life they want.”
It is estimated that one in every 100 people have a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. In the Ottawa region, 12,000 people live with schizophrenia and 300 more will develop it this year. Although there is no cure, there are effective treatments and therapies available.
“Living with schizophrenia is challenging but it shouldn’t be a life without hope. Over the next three years, The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic has the potential to help 1,000 additional people living with schizophrenia and their families, connecting them to scientists, physicians, and health care practitioners, including nurses and peer support workers, working at the leading edge of mental health care,” says Dr. David Attwood, clinical director of The Royal’s Integrated Schizophrenia Recovery Program.
The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic will be a ‘one stop shop’ for effective long-term therapies, including early and easy access to long-acting injections and clozapine, as well as cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy, recovery, and rehabilitation services. The clinic will also work with clients to address underlying social determinants of health, including trauma, homelessness and poverty.
“By providing a novel form of access to care, the new clinic will not only give hope to those suffering from psychosis, but it will also give hope to their families. Moreover, in the community at large, the Ozerdinc Grimes family believes that there will be a collective “sigh of relief” amongst those in the medical field, as well as educators and caregivers,” says Kathleen Grimes.
Filling a gap in care
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are persistent yet highly treatable however, the continuum of care for these disorders is incomplete. Specialized care is available to individuals experiencing their first episode of psychosis and to those who have very severe illness but people in the middle of that spectrum often fall through the cracks or make do with services that aren’t designed for their needs. The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic will be the first program to fill this gap by providing a secondary level of care tailored for people with schizophrenia and their families.
“With the support of a robust and highly integrated continuum of care, people with mild to moderate schizophrenia can manage their symptoms and live well. I’ve seen patients return to work, run marathons, write books, and do many other things in spite of this illness. That kind of success starts with the ability to access to the right care at the right place in the right time – that’s what we aim to provide with the creation of the Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic,” says Dr. Attwood.
Clinic opening timeline
The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic will undergo a phased opening as The Royal builds this new clinical team and ramps up services. During its initial phase, the clinic will transfer patients from other mental health programs whose needs are better served by the clinic. The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic, located at City Centre in Ottawa, will then open to referrals from primary care providers and hospitals in mid to late 2023.
With the transformative $2.5M gift from the Ozerdinc Grimes family, The Royal will be able to retain a team of experts, including specialty physicians, psychologists, nurses, social workers, peer support workers, and administrative staff, to run the clinic through 2025. With rigorous research and evaluation embedded in the clinic, The Royal will make the case for sustainable ongoing funding from the Government of Ontario.
“The Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic will help to ensure that people with schizophrenia and their families have access to the specialized care and support they need throughout their recovery journey. None of this would be possible without the visionary leadership of the Ozerdinc Grimes family as well as $1.5 million in early support that we received from community donors and organizations such as Shoppers Drug Mart,” says Chris Ide, president, Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health.
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About The Royal
The Royal is one of Canada’s foremost mental health care, teaching and research hospitals. Its mandate is simple: to help more people living with mental illness into recovery faster. The Royal combines the delivery of specialized mental health care, advocacy, research and education to transform the lives of people living with complex and treatment-resistant mental illness. The Royal includes mental health centres in Ottawa and Brockville, community mental health services at Carlingwood Mall, and four satellite offices. The Royal’s Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Clinic treats Canadian Forces, veterans and RCMP, and is the only OSI clinic within a specialized academic mental health centre. The University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Research at The Royal brings together leading clinicians, scientists and technology to investigate the brain circuitry linked to depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation. With the launch of the world’s leading-edge technology in molecular imaging targeted solely to mental health research, The Royal is becoming an innovative powerhouse — putting the nation’s capital at the forefront of unlocking the secrets of the brain — the last frontier. The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health raises funds that support The Royal’s work. The Royal places a sharp focus on awareness building through the You Know Who I Am campaign and public education initiatives such as Conversations at The Royal and Is It Just Me? Conversations about Youth Mental Health. For more information, please visit theroyal.ca.
Media Contact
Karen Monaghan
karen.monaghan@theroyal.ca
+1 (613) 868-3740