New BrunswickFive youth psychiatric beds will be added to Saint John Regional Hospital to address a lack of options for young people who need comprehensive mental health care. New unit is planned for a mid-2026 opening. Nipun Tiwari · CBC News · Posted: Oct 27, 2025 3:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesSaint John Regional Hospital will be adding a 5-bed youth psychiatry unit to fill mental heath care gap for young people in the city. (CBC)Saint John Regional Hospital will be adding a 5-bed youth psychiatry unit to address a care gap in the city that provincial representatives say often leaves youth in need having to go elsewhere.“It was identified as a gap for services for youth having access close to home to a psychiatric unit like this one,” Robert McKee, the minister responsible for addictions and mental health services, said at the announcement Monday at the hospital.“Often times they would have to travel to other cities, other hospitals to get that service,” A provincial media release said there are currently no beds in the Saint John area for youth in need of psychiatric care. As a result, young patients who must be hospitalized for these needs are being admitted to ordinary pediatric units, adult psychiatry units or transferred to facilities elsewhere in the province.CBC News asked the Health Department and Horizon for specific numbers on how many people are admitted to other facilities as a result of lack of beds but the information wasn’t available on Monday.The new unit — which will be constructed in the existing hospital building — will provide “immediate, specialized, trauma-informed treatment,” according to a government media release. The release says the idea is have patients “receive care while maintaining family and community connections.”The construction of the space will cost the province $6.3 million. Patients would be admitted to the facility by referral. McKee said that the province settled on five beds by working with regional health authorities saying it was “the magic number for to meet the needs of the community here in Saint John.”Provincial government and Horizon representatives made the announcement at Saint John Regional Hospital. They included, from left, to right, Horizon president Margaret Melanson, provincial ministers Robert McKee and John Dornan, and Horizon lead Dinesh Bhalla. (Nipun Tiwari/CBC)Horizon president and CEO Margaret Melanson says the beds should be available by “mid-2026” and would see roughly 50 patients or more per year.“These are typically lengthy admissions, not just overnight stays or very short stays,” Melanson says. She said this is to have a supportive plan in place prior to their discharge — an approach that takes time and also means fewer children coming through. She said there will not be hard limits on how long a patient can use a bed. “No one wants children to be in hospital for a longer period than necessary,” she said. “That said, we cannot set an absolute limit on the length of the admission because honestly. Some of the circumstances with these children are complex and extremely difficult to navigate.” Melanson said that the proposal to the province “was for additional staff to be associated with these new beds”. She says Horizon is hopeful that staffing budget will be included in the coming year’s spending plans. For those who need comprehensive careDinesh Bhalla, Horizon addiction and mental health physician program lead, said the unit is for those who need comprehensive care.“The children who are admitted usually either have psychosis, severe behavioral problems and drug use and suicide [risks]” he said “So these patients need time away to be stabilized and that could include medication, psychological assessments. It’s an ongoing care.” Health Minister John Dornan said there is no targeted age range for the unit but the aim is to help teenagers, young adults and other young people. (Roger Cosman/CBC)Health Minister John Dornan said a building isn’t enough.“It will require nurses, physicians, psychologists, and we have a very good team here that hourly gives a lot of this care,” he said.“When it comes time to admit a patient … we do have a lot of resources today. They just don’t have the right place to work.”Dornan said the unit will be dedicated to those who are “not quite kids” and also “not quite adults”. There is no targeted age range and aim is to help teenagers, young adults and other young people. “I’ve seen first hand people that fall between the cracks. They spend time in the emergency department. They spend time on a floor that has five year olds spent time in a floor that has adults with more chronic problems. So this will fill that gap.”The province — through former governments — aimed to build a youth mental health centre in Campbellton in 2015. Plans were changed in 2019 to build it in Moncton instead. To date this youth centre has not opened. “That one is something that was announced a long time ago and it was actually delayed and relocated under the former Conservative government,” McKee said.“There’s eight beds that are up in Campbellton now. There’s going to be an additional eight beds in Moncton for that Centre for Excellence and that’s slated for the middle of 2027 opening.” ABOUT THE AUTHORNipun Tiwari is a reporter assigned to community engagement and based in Saint John, New Brunswick. He can be reached at nipun.tiwari@cbc.ca.
Saint John Regional Hospital to add 5-bed youth psychiatry unit to fill gap
