Quebec announces 5-year mental health plan

Quebec is launching a five-year plan at a price tag of $70 millionto tackle what the health minister admits is a problematicorganization of mentalhealth services across the province.

Health Minister Gatan Barrette saidthe goals of the plan areboth tofight stigmatization associated with mentalhealth issues and toprovide better services.

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"The first problem is not the number of specialistsbut the organization," said Barrette.

Young adults often become lost within the health-care system, the health minister said.

"We, as a network, we're not adapted to youth. As a network, our organization did notforesee having measures in place that guarantee an easy transition when a youth goes from being a teenager to an adult," said Barrette.

From 2015-2020, the province will take measures to improve clinical management and offer more services to youth with mentalhealth issues.

It's also seeking moreaccountability at the upper-management level of health-care establishments. Quebec will ask individual establishments to come up with an action plan for mental health services.

Barrette said that 40 per cent of Quebecers suffer from mentalhealth issues at one point in their lives.