Aerial view of Vancouver General Hospital Campus

Need help immediately?

If there is a life-threatening safety concern, please call 9-1-1 or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital.

Suicide prevention hotline: 1-800-784-2433

BC Crisis Line: 604-310-6789

Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868

Indigenous Crisis and Support Line - KUU-US Crisis Support Line: 1-800-588-8717

Harm reduction: Toward the Heart 

Mental health tertiary services are specialized services for people with serious and long-lasting mental illnesses. Some people may also have needs related to drugs or alcohol.

How to access

  • Check eligibility

    • Are age 19+ with persistent psychiatric disorder.
    • May also have needs related to drugs or alcohol.
    • Have psychiatric symptoms that affect day-to-day living.
    • May show ongoing behaviours that put self or others at risk.
    • Need a full assessment, treatment, stabilization and therapy.
    • Need more intensive program resources.
    • Have not responded to treatment in community or acute hospital care settings; or,
    • Are age 65+ and have severe symptoms of dementia and/or have mental illness complicated by age-related medical frailty.
  • Get a referral

    ​This service requires a referral by a case manager, community mental health team or a psychiatrist in hospital. 

    Referrals are accepted through the Centralized Access & Discharge Line.

Hours of operation

Currently open

We operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Visiting hours may vary depending on the unit. Please call the Vancouver General Hospital switchboard at (604) 875-4111 to determine visiting times before your visit.

How to get here

This service is located in the Willow Pavilion building at Vancouver General Hospital.

More about this service

We provide 24-hour specialized in-depth assessment and treatment for people experiencing acute psychiatric symptoms who require a secure, specialized treatment environment. 

Patients stay in the Willow Pavilion from between three to six 6 months, depending on individual needs. People transition from this program to either a Tertiary Mental Health Rehabilitation Program or to community and residential mental health services available within Vancouver Coastal Health.

Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)

Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) offers specialized health-care services to residents in Vancouver and across the province through regional programs. We provide a full range of basic and highly specialized emergency health-care and trauma services to British Columbia.

Tertiary Mental Health and Substance Use Services

Mental health tertiary services are specialized services for people with serious and long-lasting mental illnesses. Some people may also have needs related to drugs or alcohol.