Ontario mental health system faces overhaul

Ontario is going to change the way its “fractured” $3 billion mental health system works so that people get steered to the help they need, Health Minister Deb Matthews said Wednesday.

Her comments followed a report from an expert advisory panel slamming the bureaucratic maze of agencies and government ministries offering a patchwork of services that often reach people too late — after they’ve had a breakdown or ended up in jail.

The result is that the justice system and hospital emergency rooms get swamped with cases that could have been dealt with more effectively — and at less cost to taxpayers — in community programs….