Funding and staff shortages at Alberta Hospital, the province’s main psychiatric facility, are having a detrimental effect on the administration of justice, local lawyer Bruce Lennon says.
The man who stands accused of a Halloween armed robbery in Westlock was still waiting in the Edmonton Remand Centre for psychiatric assessment last week, despite three separate court orders directing his transfer to Alberta Hospital.
Michael Thomas Murchie appeared in Westlock Provincial Court Wednesday via closed-circuit television and told court he has been in prison since his Oct. 31 arrest.
Murchie was arrested Halloween night in relation to an alleged armed robbery at the Westlock Esso.
He has pleaded guilty to unrelated charges from several incidents in Edmonton, and is awaiting sentencing. A psychological and psychiatric assessment has been ordered to determine if he is fit to answer the current charges.
“What happens is for a lack of resources and a lack of bed space in Alberta Hospital, some people with, in my view, some very serious mental health issues are kept in the general population at the Remand Centre,” Lennon said. “It’s unfortunately very common.”
Judge Norman Mackie had made two previous orders for Murchie to be transferred to Alberta Hospital, but Murchie told court Wednesday, Dec. 15 that he has only had very brief contact with psychiatrists behind bars and was told he won’t be transferred.
“I understand your feelings of frustration,” Mackie told Murchie, before making a third order for his transfer, adding he was getting close to thoughts of finding those responsible in contempt of court.
Kerry Williamson, a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services (AHS), said they could not comment on this specific case. He said, however, that when a judge makes an order for psychiatric assessment, psychiatrists don’t always feel it’s necessary to transfer the patient to Alberta Hospital. Rather, patients can be assessed in other locations, such as the Edmonton Remand Centre, at the discretion of AHS staff.
“While there may be an order for Alberta Hospital Edmonton, that might not necessarily be the best and most appropriate place for that person to be treated,” he said.
There is limited space at Alberta Hospital to deal with criminal assessments, he added. Currently there are 12 beds dedicated to criminal assessments, and the amount of requests that come in for court-ordered assessments are more than can be accommodated at the hospital.
“The policy of our forensic program as that we always respond to court-ordered assessments, but we reserve the right to determine where that assessment occurs,” he said. “We’re in a place to know the needs of that patient.”
Murchie has told court on several occasions that he has seen psychiatrists for just a handful of five-minute sessions since his October arrest.
“I don’t know if they feel a five-minute assessment is enough; I hope not,” Lennon said. “I do note they seem to have enough money to build more jail cells. It’s always perplexed me.”
