Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
CAMH Russell Street site
Geography
Location	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Organization
Care system	Public Medicare (Canada) (OHIP)
Hospital type	Addictions and Mental Health
Affiliated university	University of Toronto
Services
Emergency department	Yes
History
Founded	1998
Links
Website	http://www.camh.ca/
Lists	Hospitals in Canada

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) or, in French, the Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale, is a mental health teaching hospital in with central facilities located in Toronto and 10 community locations throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. (The acronym CAMH is most commonly pronounced "Cam-H".) The hospital was formed in 1998 from the amalgamation of four separate institutions. CAMH has a total of 530 inpatient beds with 3000 staff, physicians, and scientists, and an annual operating budget of over $300 million. Its central facilities include 90 distinct services across inpatient, outpatient, day treatment, and partial hospitalization models. Several notable scientists conducted their research at CAMH (especially at its predecessor organization, the Clarke Institute for Psychiatry), yet CAMH's administration has come under criticism including from staff who report safety problems and from donors who withdrew their funding citing accountability problems. Among the clinical focuses of the hospital are the assessment and treatment of schizophrenia, mood and anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and addictions to alcohol, drugs, and problem gambling.

Psychiatrist and Clarke Institute President Paul E. Garfinkel was appointed the first President and CEO of CAMH in 1998. He was followed by neurologist Catherine Zahn in 2009.

Upon CAMH’s formation, Peter Catford was appointed Vice President for Information Technology. In 2002, Catford outsourced the public hospital’s computer needs to H.I. Next, a private company which Catford founded and co-owned. When the Toronto Star reported on what it deemed an apparent conflict of interest regarding the spending of public money, the hospital would not reveal how much it paid Catford or his company, nor would CAMH disclose any details of its contract with H.I. Next or what other firms bid on the work. Catford commented only that "I feel honoured to work with (CAMH) and I feel like it has been done ethically." In interviews with the Toronto Star, Dev Chopra, executive vice-president of CAMH first said there was nothing inappropriate about Catford's role. "We got into it with our eyes open. There is no conflict." However, Chopra later said there were "some optics from a conflict perspective" noting the hospital might revisit the issue that day. Catford left his CAMH position two days later, but the Star reported that hospital officials said changes were being considered months before the Star published its story about the issue.