Mental health cuts will hurt patients, former patient says

A man from Indian Head, Sask., who spent time in the psychiatric ward at a Regina hospital is alarmed by recent job cuts in the health region.

Twenty people are losing their jobs most of them mental health workers.

The Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region says the job losses will not affect patient care, but Todd Rennebohm, who has been through some mental health struggles of his own, says there were already too few workers before the job cuts.

A widely circulated letter he recently posted on Facebook and sent to CBC News and other media outlets described his harrowing experiences several years ago when he had a mental health crisis on two occasions.

When he went to the Regina General Hospital, a nurse told him that although he was depressed and suicidal, there wasn't a psychiatric bed available, so he left.

2nd crisis broughtRennebohmback tohospital

A year later, there was another crisis and he ended up in the hospital's emergency ward.

"I tried to kill myself and my brother for trying to stop me," he said in his letter. "Once police arrived, I grabbed one of their guns to try again to kill myself, only to be forcibly detained."

He got a bed at the hospital, but once he was settled in, he was surprised how often security was being called to deal with patients, including himself, he said.

He talked about his experiences Monday in an interview with Morning Edition host Sheila Coles.

"In my letter, I said that security guards are not mental health staff," Rennebohm said.

"You can't just call security to deal with these people. It frightens everybody on the ward, it frightens the people being dealt with. It's just not the right way to deal with these situations."

Those beds are always full.How can you take 20 people away from the beds you already have and not make a difference?- Todd Rennebohm

Rennebohm says based on his own experiences, he's convinced cutting staff in the mental health field will negatively affect patients.

"Those beds are always full," he said. "How can you take 20 people away from the beds you already have and not make a difference?"

Rennebohm said in the last two or three years, his mental health has improved and stabilized. For that reason, he said, he's able to be an advocate for people going through what he went through.

"This is why people don't speak out about these things," he told Coles. "You can't advocate when you're still sick.

• LETTER:Todd Rennebohm writesto CBC News