People living with a severe form of depression will be able to access more care at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare in Windsor.
The Ontario government is providing $5.4 million in funding for Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) programs at 15 sites across the province.
The rTMS devices help to treat patients with Treatment Resistant Depression (TDR).
HDGH says that depression and anxiety-related disorders are common, and while many individuals improve with medication or psychotherapy, some do not.
Director of Mental Health and Addictions at HDGH, DJ MacNeil, says the rTMS machine provides a non-invasive treatment, using magnetic pulses to stimulate nerve cells in certain areas of the brain.
“It’s really kind of helping realign or restart some of the pathways in the brain, in the specific areas where some of these disorders can occur,” he says. “It can just help get the neurons in the brain, those cells, firing in a different manner than what they had been before. That helps alleviate some of these symptoms.”
MacNeil, says Treatment Resistant Depression can be highly debilitating for those suffering from it.
“Not just tormenting for the individual, depression is one of the largest cost burdens on our healthcare system, so it gives a real, effective, non-invasive treatment to correct that,” he says.
In early 2024, the HDGH Foundation, in collaboration with the hospital, funded a state-of-the-art BrainsWay rTMS machine to offer services to patients. Over the last two years, HDGH has self-funded rTMS services, providing care to 38 unique patients over 1,000 treatment sessions.
Officials expect the funding for expanded services will allow them to provide care to 60 to 120 people per year.
MacNeil expects there to be a very large demand due to more awareness.
“Anyone who has experienced a severe mental illness will tell you how tormenting that can be for them. To be able to have an effective tool for some of the more severe forms of these ailments is tremendous for us,” he says.
The rTMS services are offered onsite at HDGH, located at 1453 Prince Road.