AN INTEGRATED REGIONAL EMERGENCY PSYCHIATRY SERVICE

This paper presents a model of an integrated Psychiatric Emergency Ser vice serving Hamilton, a community of 450,000 in Southern Ontario. It describes the evolution of the service and how it has integrated five separate, hospital-run Emergency Psychiatric Services into a single se rvice. The principles of the service and ways in which it operates are outlined and the advantages and drawbacks of the model are discussed. The authors conclude that such a model lends to a more efficient use of resources and is adaptable to most urban communities with a similar , or even larger population.