A Halifax teen said to be struggling with mental health issues is finally in hospital after she was turned away at the hospital, arrested, and then turned away again over the weekend.
Vicky Morinville says she took her 14-year-old daughter to the IWK Health Centre on Saturday out of concern for her mental health.
“I was hoping for an inpatient admission, and for a proper psychiatric evaluation,” Morinville said.
Now, because of how her daughter was treated, Morinville is calling for change, saying her family was victim to a broken system.
After being “dismissed” by hospital staff on Saturday afternoon, Morinville returned the next day to try to have her daughter admitted.
“They would not admit her because she apparently wasn't a danger to herself or to anyone else,” Morinville said.
From there, things began to unravel: Police were called to the hospital, where they arrested the 14-year-old, saying she assaulted four officers.
The teen was taken to the police station.
“Once in the Prisoner Care Facility, officers became concerned with the behaviour being observed and believed that the youth was a danger to herself,” said Halifax Regional Police spokesperson Cst. Pierre Bourdages.
Officers took the teen back to the IWK around 10 p.m. Sunday and stayed with her until she was admitted to the hospital around 4 a.m. Monday morning.
As of Monday evening, the teen remains in hospital.
“It's not the fault of the police by any means. They've been amazing,” said Morinville.
“And it's not the fault of the staff that I'm dealing with inside. It's the system that is not working.”
She’s not alone in that assessment.
“Clearly there's a problem in the system,” said Dr. Stan Kutcher, an adolescent psychiatrist based in Halifax.
He says the case highlights the need for a crisis centre to help the young people who don’t fit the criteria for hospital admission.
“What we really need to do is to enhance access to urgent care when people need it,” Dr. Kutcher said.
Officials with the IWK Health Centre declined to comment on this case.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell
