To all those who would like to make a difference in our healthcare system: 

My name is Alicia Doner-Freire, and I recently graduated from the Eating Disorder Symptom Interruption Program (SIP) at the Ottawa General Hospital Campus. My intention in creating this petition is to help raise awareness and accelerate the process of creating a separate wing/unit of the hospital dedicated to the Eating Disorder program. 

To all those who are unfamiliar with the changes going on at the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic Campus, a new development is being made for a trauma centre located close to the Highway 417. This new location will serve as a more accessible trauma center, rather than the smaller one at the Civic Campus. Thus, providing space for a unit - EVEN A SMALL UNIT - that can be dedicated to mental health. 

As this new progression is underway, it is time to take action and increase Mental Health Services in our poorly accommodated City… In particular, Eating Disorders. 

From February 1st to 7th was Eating Disorder Awareness Week. It is time we escalate awareness about the severity of Eating Disorders, increase the support, and make a difference in how our HealthCare system has attempted to address this issue. There is a very evident barrier to care that disproportionately affects underserved communities. I’ll share a little bit about my experience to give you an idea: 

In July of 2020, I was admitted to the Inpatient Eating Disorder Unit. I was appalled to see that in all of Ottawa, there are only SIX BEDS in the PSYCHIATRIC UNIT (and given COVID-19, now only 2-4) dedicated to those struggling with anorexia, bulimia, and other forms of disordered eating. THIS IS NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH. It is estimated that 2.7 MILLION people in Canada suffer from eating disorders, and you are going to tell me 6 beds is enough? Ridiculous. 

As I mentioned, there really is no “unit” for eating disorders in Ottawa, as it’s just beds assigned to eating disorder patients on 4 North - the psychiatric unit. Not to say that ED’s are not psychiatric emergencies, I am saying quite the opposite: They are so urgently needed that 6 beds is not enough. The psych environment is detrimental to both EDP patients’ mental and physical rehabilitation. 

It is understandable that many of the situations I will be describing are bound to happen in the psychiatric unit, but this does not mean that EDP patients should be exposed to these behaviours. So here is a snippet of my story: 

Throughout my 6 week stay at the hospital, I felt very unsafe in my environment. The nurses and care team were outstanding. Unfortunately, the environment was not in keeping with the safety I should have felt, in an environment that is voluntary and designed to restore their patients to health. 

To begin, other patients would come in and out of our room at any given hour of the day (as there were no locks), my roommates and I had to pull the help cord multiple times to get other patients out of our room, we were harassed and demeaned by other patients, making us feel extremely debilitated as people. We felt as if we lacked control. My roommates and I spent many sleepless nights on the unit in fear for our safety. 

Walking through the halls, patients would whistle at me and attempt to grab me multiple times before their guard interjected. As a trauma victim, I felt helpless to these situations and felt as if this must be what the real world is like. Very commonly in eating disorder patients, we feel distressed in our own skin, and having others react towards us is extremely discomforting. 

On another occasion, a patient told me that I looked as if I gained a lot of weight. Comments like these are extremely harmful for someone going through the process of weight restoration, as it draws focus to the subject in which we are trying to flee from the most. There will inevitably be invalidating people that are necessary to get through life, to learn and to grow. In a situation that starts with repairing the brain through nutrition, constantly feeling labelled by our physical appearance is quite excruciating. 

Creating a separate EDP unit would make the voluntary eating disorder treatment more appealing to those who are severely struggling. Creating a safe environment for them to nurture and grow together, rather than in fear, would be a wonderful step in the right direction. My experience in inpatient is complete, but I would only hope that for others there would be more measures put into place to make EDP patients feel heard, valid and understood. 

All I ask is for you to share and sign this petition that I have so intricately formulated and poured my heart and soul into. I have contacted patient relations, CTV News and both hospitals about the possibility of making this happen. This needs to change, and it needs to happen now. 

Alicia