Russ and Geoff Courtnall may be retired from the NHL, but they - together with their brother Bruce - have scored big once again for mental health.

B次元官网网址淓xcellent,B次元官网网址� Geoff Courtnall said of the more than $720,000 the third Courtnall Celebrity Classic raised. ThatB次元官网网址檚 not counting funds raised at the gala dinner, golf tournament and through online donations, which will be tabulated over the next two weeks.

B次元官网网址淚 think it was overwhelming this weekend with the response.B次元官网网址�

The money will outfit five mental health units at the Royal Jubilee HospitalB次元官网网址檚 new Patient Care Centre with special furnishings, such as tables and chairs that donB次元官网网址檛 have sharp edges, high-tech patient beds, lifts and slings, a closed-circuit TV system and emergency call buttons, among other items.

Equally as important, the event brought mental illness out from the shadows.

B次元官网网址淚 really believe that itB次元官网网址檚 becoming more and more out in the open,B次元官网网址� said Bruce Courtnall. B次元官网网址淚t helps people heal. Maybe it helps people admit they have got to deal with some things.B次元官网网址�

Mental health patients, their families, even their doctors have long suffered the shame associated with mental illness, said psychiatrist Dr. Rivian Weinerman, the Vancouver Island Health AuthorityB次元官网网址檚 regional head of collaborative care in psychiatry. B次元官网网址淭he CourtnallsB次元官网网址� job, and what theyB次元官网网址檙e doing so beautifully, is really fighting stigma,B次元官网网址� said Weinerman.

Their support for the mental health department at the Patient Care Centre B次元官网网址� home to units for mood disorders, psychoses, general psychiatric care, older adult psychiatry, and eventually a seclusion unit B次元官网网址� shows patients that people care.

B次元官网网址淗aving them as part of the Patient Care Centre just like everybody else addresses a lot of levels of stigma,B次元官网网址� Weinerman said.

The Courtnalls raised about $2 million through their first two Courtnall Celebrity Classics in 2003 and 2004, and opened the Archie Courtnall Centre for emergency psychiatric care, named for their father who committed suicide in 1978.

A fourth Courtnall Celebrity Classic isnB次元官网网址檛 planned for next year, but the Courtnalls say they will continue to champion mental health causes.

Funds raised

B次元官网网址� CFAX 1070 radiothon: $82,642

B次元官网网址� Silent and live auction: $387,875

B次元官网网址� Thrifty Foods founder, Alex Campbell Sr.: $250,000

B次元官网网址� Gala dinner, golf tourney and online donations: to be tabulated