Markham residents with treatment-resistant depression have a publicly funded treatment option through a partnership between Oak Valley Health and the Canadian Mental Health Association’s York Region South Simcoe branch. The program serves adults in eastern York Region and requires a referral.
Oak Valley Health said in an announcement that it is the association’s first service delivery site for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, known as rTMS. The treatment is intended for people whose depression has not responded to medication or psychotherapy.
People interested in the program are required to speak with their physician, nurse practitioner or psychiatrist about a referral. The partnership is part of a broader provincial expansion of publicly funded rTMS services for adults with treatment-resistant depression.
What the treatment involves
According to Oak Valley Health, rTMS is a non-surgical treatment that does not require anesthesia. A small magnetic coil is placed on the patient’s head to deliver targeted magnetic pulses to brain areas involved in regulating mood.
A typical course consists of 30 sessions, delivered five days a week over six weeks. Oak Valley Health describes the treatment as safe, effective and supported by evidence for patients whose depression has not improved with medication or psychotherapy.
The announcement states that one in five people in Ontario who have major depression experience treatment-resistant depression. It says rTMS has demonstrated clinically meaningful benefits for those patients.
Yaakov Keilikhis, Oak Valley Health’s director of mental health and allied health, said depression is among the most common mental health conditions affecting the patients the organization serves. While many improve with medication or psychotherapy, others continue to have symptoms despite those treatments, he said.
Keilikhis said expanding publicly funded rTMS gives those patients another treatment option that can improve depressive symptoms and functioning. He described the partnership as a way to provide coordinated care within patients’ own communities.
Part of a provincial expansion
The service is offered through Ontario’s Neurostimulation Procedures Provincial Program. A recent provincial investment of $5.4 million supports the expansion of treatment for adults with treatment-resistant depression across Ontario, according to the announcement.
Approximately $321,585 has been allocated to support service delivery by CMHA York Region South Simcoe in collaboration with Oak Valley Health. Ontario Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence is leading implementation of the provincial program.
CMHA York Region South Simcoe is also a lead organization in the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy network. Its chief executive officer, Andrew Chung, said the partnership is intended to reduce barriers to specialized care and make the treatment available at no cost to patients.
