Family physicians play a central role in the provision of mental health care in most communities.
However, the relationship with psychiatric services is often characterized by problems in communication and by complaints from primary care providers about difficulties accessing mental health services. Today, primary care providers and psychiatrists are working together to overcome these difficulties. Linkages can be improved upon by bringing necessary mental health services into the family physician's office. One successful example is the Hamilton-Wentworth Health Service Organization Mental Health Program, located in Hamilton, a community of 460,000 people in southern Ontario. Established in October 1994 and now serving 87 family physicians in 36 practices and comprising 170,000 patients, this program brings full-time counselors and visiting psychiatrists into the offices of participating family physicians.