Over the past 2 years, the Douglas has been working on a project to renew its physical infrastructure. This process has been driven by the increasing number of obstacles the aging facilities present to delivering against the organization’s multiple mandates as a University Institute; patient care, teaching, research and the evaluation of technology.

A renewed physical environment would allow the Douglas to more effectively accommodate new approaches to treatment, to advance its efforts in emerging areas of research and provide a more supportive working environment for its staff.

Building on the support and encouragement of the Board of Directors, efforts to pursue this initiative are now moving forward in a more focused, formalized manner. During the past 12 months, a small team, led by the director general, Jacques Hendlisz, and the director of technical services, Ronald Sehn, has held consultations and information sessions with nearly 300 people from key audiences including patients, employees, community mental health partners as well as representatives from local and provincial governments. The response to date has been positive.

A pre-feasibility study, the first step in making the case for renewal to the provincial government, is currently in development and is slated for submission to the Ministry of Health and Social Services and the Agency in early 2009. The report will detail the rationale behind the need to renew, and include options and preliminary recommendations to effectively address the challenges presented by our infrastructure. Specific solutions or designs will not be proposed at this stage.

Community information meetings will be held in early 2009, once the report has been completed and the options available to us become more clear.