Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

At The Royal, we are one of Canada’s leading mental health care, teaching, and research hospitals. Our main purpose is to provide more people living with mental illness and addiction with faster recovery. We bring together specialized mental health care, advocacy, research, and education to transform the lives of people living with complex and treatment-resistant mental illness. We work with the Institute of Mental Health Research, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, which brings together leading mental health professionals, scientists, and technology to gain a deeper understanding of the brain and investigate innovative approaches to preventing and treating mental illness. The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health also helps support our work by raising funds, community leaders, and mental health advocates to advance mental health research and education. And we focus on awareness building and health promotion public education initiatives such as Conversations at The Royal and Is It Just Me? Conversations about Youth Mental Health.

Who We Serve

At The Royal, our main role is to serve people above 16 years and older living with complex and persistent mental illness. Patients in need of the highly specialized care we provide are referred by physicians or nurse practitioners in our community. We support people from all walks of life, and we understand that mental health challenges are a part of everyone’s journey. Our comprehensive care model is developed based on the kind of assistance our patients need. 

How We Help

The Royal serves people age 16 and older living with complex and persistent mental illness. Our range of programs and resources help patients with mental health challenges from referrals, to treatment and recovery. We have specific referral criteria for each of our programs, which can be accessed through our referral form hub. Our specialized care model caters to our patients’ different needs, including our Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Clinic, which treats Canadian Forces, veterans, and RCMP. Our OSI clinic is the only one in Canada within a specialized academic mental health centre, which means our patients are getting the best care available.