The Toronto Hospital Eating Disorders Program Receives Additional Funding
(April 7, 1997 - Toronto) Relief is on the way for patients suffering from eating disorders: The Toronto Hospital Eating Disorders Program has received an additional $500,000 in funding from the Ministry of Health to treat patients suffering from the severest forms of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Another $133,755 will fund an Outreach Training Program jointly run by The Toronto Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children to train health care professionals across the province. "This is an extremely significant infusion of funds," says Dr. Allan Kaplan, Head, Program for Eating Disorders at The Toronto Hospital and Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. "The new funding will enable us to more than double the number of inpatients we treat from 30 to 60 to 70 per year." The Toronto Hospital Eating Disorders Program is the largest in Canada and was the first to be established in Canada in 1985. The program received the prestigious Gold Award from the American Psychiatric Association in 1990 as the best clinical program in North America. There is no other facility in Ontario where individuals suffering from these diseases can receive this kind of specialized and comprehensive care. Treatment at The Toronto Hospital Eating Disorders Clinic includes any combination of individual, family and group psychotherapy, medical care, pharmacotherapy (treatment using medication), and nutritional rehabilitation. The Program's seven integrated services consist of the following: The Inpatient Program is a six bed unit that will likely increase to 10 beds with the new funding. The Day Hospital Program which provides concentrated and intensive treatment to patients at a clinic four full days a week for 8 to 12 weeks The Transition Program which helps patients with the transition from the intensive treatments (Day Hospital and Inpatients) to less intensive care while they reintegrate into a school or work environment The Outpatient Clinic provides a wide range of group and individual treatments The National Eating Disorders Information Centre is a health promotion, primary prevention service and information centre for patients and professionals. The Consultation Service which provides initial consultation and treatment recommendations to primary care physicians and specialists throughout the province. The service sees approximately 350 new patients each year. The Outreach Training Program, a joint service with the Hospital for Sick Children, for the training of professionals across the province "Eating disorders are a serious health concern for adolescents and young women," said Dr. Alan Hudson, President and CEO, The Toronto Hospital. "The new funding will significantly reduce our waiting list and help more people who have these disorders." The 18 people currently on the Hospital's waiting list would typically wait six to eight months for treatment. Young girls and women make up 90 per cent of those struggling with anorexia nervosa and bulimia. These women have an intense desire to be thin. Women with anorexia nervosa experience drastic weight loss by severely restricting their food intake and exercising excessively and compulsively. Bulimia is characterized by binge eating and then purging food, usually by vomiting or using laxatives to rid the body of its calories. The Eating Disorders Program is a priority program under the Hospital's Women's Health Program. Admission to the Eating Disorders Program at The Toronto Hospital is by referral from an individual's physician. For further information, please contact Mary Stobbe, Public & Community Affairs, at 340-3303.
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