BRAMPTON, ON — Bell Let’s Talk is donating $420,000 to William Osler Health System to support a new repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) Clinic at Osler’s Brampton Civic Hospital.
The clinic is part of Osler’s Stepped Care Program that provides leading-edge, high-intensity treatment for patients with mental illness. rTMS is an innovative treatment for people with major depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for whom medication may not be effective or an option, says the news release.
Osler will use the Bell Let’s Talk donation to acquire and install a full rTMS suite. An additional donation of $50,000 from Osler’s team of psychiatrists themselves, led by Dr. Razi Sayeed, corporate chief of psychiatry and medical director of William Osler Health System, will double the number of patients that can be treated at any one time. Osler’s Mental Health and Addictions Department receives about 1,400 outpatient referrals each month, and 70% of these are for depression treatment.
Bell Let’s Talk Day is January 29
Bell’s 10th annual mental health awareness and funding campaign, Bell Let’s Talk Day, is happening January 29 and this year’s theme is “Mental Health: Every Action Counts”.
Bell’s nationwide multimedia campaign will feature special mental health programming in English and French across its TV, radio and digital properties. Production is underway on a primetime CTV Bell Let’s Talk Day feature for January 29, to cap off a full day of programming as Bell Media keeps Canadians up to date on the mental health conversation. French-language programming will include the documentary Santé mentale: Plus forts ensemble, which will air on Bell Media’s French channels, including RDS, Canal Vie, Canal D and Z, and its Crave streaming service.
On January 29, at no cost to participants beyond what they would normally pay their service providers for online or phone access, Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for each of the following interactions on Bell Let’s Talk Day:
- Talk: Every mobile and every long-distance call made by Bell wireless and phone customers
- Text: Every text message sent by Bell wireless customers
- Twitter: Every tweet and retweet using #BellLetsTalk, featuring the special Bell Let’s Talk emoji, and every Bell Let’s Talk Day video view at com/Bell_LetsTalk
- Facebook: Every Bell Let’s Talk Day video view at com/BellLetsTalkand every use of the Bell Let’s Talk frame
- Instagram: Every Bell Let’s Talk Day video view at com/Bell_LetsTalk
- Snapchat: Every use of the Bell Let’s Talk filter and every Bell Let’s Talk Day video view
- YouTube: Every Bell Let’s Talk Day video view at com/BellCanada
Since the first Bell Let’s Talk Day in 2011, Canadians and people around the world have sent a total of more than 1 billion messages of support for mental health, bringing Bell’s total commitment to $100,695,763.75, which includes the company’s original $50 million anchor donation when Bell Let’s Talk launched in 2010.
To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
