Mental Health and Substance Use Services
BC Children’s Hospital is the provincial leader in pediatric mental health and substance use (MHSU) care across BC and Yukon.
Who we serve
BC Children’s Hospital typically provides care to children, youth and young adults who require specialist care that may not be available in their home community.
Children and youth may have a broad range of health conditions such as eating disorders, concurrent disorders (both addictions and mental health concerns), neurodevelopmental and psychiatric issues or other concerns.
The level of services BC Children's Hospital provides to individual patients varies depending on the complexity of their needs, as well as service availability in a patient’s own community.
We work closely with regional health authorities to support children and youth in accessing the care they need.
Our services
BC Children’s Hospital delivers care through a range of programs, including our Emergency Department, inpatient units where patients stay overnight at the hospital, consult services, and outpatient and community programs.
While some patients may only require an initial assessment and consultation at BC Children’s Hospital, others may need ongoing treatment and care for several months or years.
How we deliver our services
We deliver care as part of multi-disciplinary teams, including medical leaders, such as doctors and nurse practitioners, psychologists, nursing staff, allied health and others. This enables us to meet the unique needs of children and youth.
BC Children’s Hospital health-care providers also offer specialty training and support to other clinicians across BC to enhance care standards and increase treatment capacity in the community for children and youth. This includes the provider consultation program, Compass.
Making a referral
Every child or youth needs a referral from a health-care provider such as a psychiatrist, pediatrician or primary care provider (a family doctor or nurse practitioner) to access our services at BC Children’s Hospital.
Each MHSU program or service has a unique referral process. Please visit the most relevant referral page under our Health Professionals section for further information.
Contact information
Families and caregivers
If you have questions about how your child can access BC Children’s Hospital MHSU services, call 604-875-2010 and ask to speak to an intake clerk.
General mental health and substance use information and resources are also available on the Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre website.
Health-care providers
If you are a health-care provider looking for specialist support in providing care to a child with a mental health or substance use concern, visit the Compass web page for further information.
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Indigenous Health
We advocate for and provide support to Indigenous patients and families who are visiting the hospital.