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91ƵFalling through the cracks91Ƶ: Mental health support gap leaves B.C. care aid struggling

91ƵA person should not have to beg for their life because of mental health91Ƶ
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Serene Harcus says Interior Health91Ƶs internal mental health support system has left her without support or the counselling she needs. (Rebecca Willson/Salmon Arm Observer)

Warning: This story contains references to mental health, suicide and sensitive subjects that may be upsetting to some readers.

A Salmon Arm woman is raising a red flag over Interior Health91Ƶs handling of her struggles with mental health, saying she91Ƶs one of many people falling through the cracks of a broken system.

Serene Harcus has been on leave from her job as a health-care worker since September 2019. She said she was going through a nervous breakdown at that time, with mental and physical symptoms piling up due to abuse suffered in her personal life.

91ƵI was totally falling apart,91Ƶ she said, adding that she began feeling suicidal.

Her employer91Ƶs wellness coordinator encouraged her to take time off, she said, but she didn91Ƶt qualify for medical employment insurance and instead went on long-term disability benefits. After that ran out, she would need to wait five months for any more help.

The same day she decided to take time off work, Harcus went into the Canadian Mental Health Association offices needing to talk to someone because she was ready to take her own life. She said she was told that because she works for Interior Health, CMHA couldn91Ƶt help.

Harcus explained Interior Health recently switched to a new internal system in which the health authority handles its own employees91Ƶ health-care needs. She said outside resources are no longer accessible to IH employees, and she wasn91Ƶt able to access CMHA services because of this.

91ƵThe wires got crossed somewhere,91Ƶ said Harcus. 91ƵThey91Ƶre not helping the way they91Ƶre supposed to, with any sort of consistency, and our provider isn91Ƶt stepping up.91Ƶ

Dawn Dunlop, CMHA91Ƶs executive director, said while she couldn91Ƶt issue a statement specific to Harcus, she encouraged Harcus to reach out again to the organization.

91ƵNavigating the mental-health system and community resources is a very treacherous pathway and it91Ƶs not a one-size-fits-all,91Ƶ said Dunlop.

Lana Schultze, Interior Health91Ƶs corporate director of workplace health and safety, also couldn91Ƶt supply a specific comment.

91ƵRegarding the contracted services from Interior Health91Ƶs Employee and Family Assistance Plan (EFAP) provider, the definition of eligible employees includes full-time, part-time and casual employees,91Ƶ reads Schultze91Ƶs statement to the Observer.

91ƵThe services provided include confidential, professional short-term counseling services to help employees and their family members address personal or work-related concerns. Access to resources and information related to physical and mental health. Assistance is provided to help employees manage their work and personal life effectively.91Ƶ

Schultze also said additional counselling opportunities are provided through extended health benefits and these benefits differ depending on a number of factors, including 91Ƶspecific bargaining association.91Ƶ

91ƵCommunity-based services such as the Canadian Mental Health Association are not linked to employment and as such are available to all who meet service providers91Ƶ criteria,91Ƶ Schultze said in her statement.

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In February 2020, Harcus91Ƶ long-term disability carrier (LTD), Canada Life Assurance, sent her to a specialist doctor in Vancouver. Harcus said there was not a treatment option she was ready for at that time.

91ƵI91Ƶm highly agoraphobic, absolutely broken, they fly me to Vancouver first thing in the morning, I did a four-hour intense go-through of every trauma in my entire life from birth to present day, and they flew me back the same day with no support set up for after, no nothing.91Ƶ

91ƵWithin three days I tried to take my life.91Ƶ

Harcus said she was begging for help at this point and her LTD carrier didn91Ƶt have a counselling option for her.

Eventually, Harcus said she was offered a psychologist to see regularly and an occupational therapist, but as soon as she started getting into exposure therapy, the programs were pulled.

She said the resources she91Ƶs contacted and the carrier for the LTD have said they91Ƶve done all they can for her and she is at a point where she should be able to work.

Harcus said her doctor has agreed with her she91Ƶs not at the point where she can leave the house much, let alone sustain a long-term job as a care aide, her chosen profession, so she91Ƶs unsure what to do next.

91ƵInterior Health has a duty to accommodate, but there91Ƶs nothing. It91Ƶs all just kind of a joke.91Ƶ

On March 17, Harcus said she received her last support payment. She is currently going through an appeals process with her union to fight the carriers, trying to receive more help.

Harcus said the paperwork for medical employment insurance, Canada Pension Plan disability, and Person with Disabilities payments have taken months. She has applied for income assistance for housing but has been denied. Service Canada has only been able to re-submit forms she has already sent and Harcus said there aren91Ƶt any avenues she hasn91Ƶt explored.

91ƵIt91Ƶs really disheartening, I just don91Ƶt even know where a person goes at this point. I91Ƶve been screaming for three years.91Ƶ

Harcus said she has had other care aides and health professionals empathising with her struggles and going through the same issues, posting comments on the GoFundMe she has set up to help pay bills.

91ƵIt was time to beg the community, which is humiliating and powerful at the same time, I guess. I91Ƶm admitting I can91Ƶt do this by myself. The system is broken.

91ƵWe91Ƶre in a country that91Ƶs supposed to have these amazing resources and so many people are falling through the cracks. A person should not have to beg for their life because of mental health.91Ƶ

Harcus said she has been surviving on the kindness of friends and family, and collecting food bank donations and bottles to return for cash.

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rebecca.willson@saobserver.net

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Rebecca Willson

About the Author: Rebecca Willson

I took my first step into the journalism industry in November 2022 when I moved to Salmon Arm to work for the Observer and Eagle Valley News. I graduated with a journalism degree in December 2021 from MacEwan University in Edmonton.
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