Dufferin MCRT Nurses Avoid ER Hospital Visits for Mental Health Calls Working Alongside OPP Officers

10-5 - The Official Podcast of the OPP Association

Registered Nurse Michelle Marr works for Headwaters Healthcare Centre in Orangeville as a Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) Nurse in partnership with Dufferin OPP Officers.

Michelle joins 10-5 The Official Podcast of the OPP Association to discuss the success of the Dufferin MCRT program and assert her wish for sustainable funding.

Dufferin County has one of the highest call volumes for mental health calls in Ontario.

The Dufferin MCRT have not been able to deal with all of the calls due to not having 24/7 coverage.

The Dufferin MCRT have dealt with 600 calls and made 1539 referrals in the first 11 months of 2024, reducing significantly the number of hospital visits for people experiencing mental health crisis. This not only helps members of the public, it helps to prioritize hospital emergency resources, as well as valuable police resources who traditionally have to remain at hospital with persons apprehended under the Mental Health Act.

If you wish to contact Michelle or have an idea for future episodes, please email [e-mail].

Music – “Line of Fire” by Jason Shaw available at Audionautix.com and used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

The OPP Association is the sole bargaining agent for the close to 10,000 members of the Ontario Provincial Police in Canada. Our members are our focus and our strength. We aim to provide important information to our members and the public about matters that affect policing in the province of Ontario.