About Us
MENTAL HEALTH CENTRE PENETANGUISHENE
The Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene (MHCP) is a fully accredited 312-bed psychiatric hospital. It has operated as a psychiatric hospital since 1904 and on December 15, 2008 was divested from the Province of Ontario to a public hospital corporation. The MHCP is sponsored by the Catholic Health Corporation of Ontario, which is a health care sponsoring agency of the Catholic Church. It is situated approximately 150 km northwest of Toronto, on Georgian Bay in the town of Penetanguishene. It has operated as a psychiatric hospital since 1904.
The hospital’s organizational structure is based on a program management model with three clinical divisions and two service divisions:
Acute & Community Care Division (31 beds) provides acute care at the hospital. It also includes the Outpatient Services Program, located in nearby Midland, and community-based vocational, recreational and educational services to registered outpatients. Spiritual Care Services as well as in-patient recreation, vocational services at the Regional site make up this clinical division.
Tertiary Care Division (101 beds) provides long-term care to people with a serious mental illness, geriatric services to the elderly with age-related mental illnesses, services to the dually-diagnosed (developmental delay with a psychiatric illness) and people with concurrent disorders (addiction and a psychiatric illness) as well as long-term, complex rehabilitation services.
Programs in the Acute and Tertiary Care Divisions provide regional services to the hospital’s catchment area which includes Simcoe County, Dufferin County and South Muskoka/Parry Sound.
Forensic Division (180 beds) includes Ontario’s only maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital (Oak Ridge site). This facility serves the entire province. The remaining 20 beds comprise the 20-bed minimum secure program at the Regional site.
Hospital Services Division provides housekeeping, maintenance, dietary and transportation support services to the hospital.
Corporate Services Division provides financial, clinical and information technology, decision support, risk management, human resources, learning resources, volunteer services and recruiters support services to the hospital.
MHCP has a clear focus on education and research. Each year, the facility hosts several educational events. The MHCP Research Department is formally affiliated with the University of Toronto and is internationally recognized for its contributions to scientific knowledge on violence, and the assessment and treatment of mental disorders.