Hamilton's new youth mental health unit called "long overdue"

McMaster Children’s Hospital today unveiled the region’s first child and youth mental health unit in a ceremony that included Minister of Health David Caplan.

The 22-bed unit is the third largest in Canada and includes innovative services and private rooms within a spacious unit.

Murray Martin, CEO and president of Hamilton Health Sciences, said the unit is “long overdue and much needed.”

One in five children have some type of mental health problem yet only 20 per cent of children who need help get it. Martin said the new unit fills a “large deficit” in children’s mental health services in Hamilton.